


Christmas Time Is Here

by giggling_bubble



Series: Festive Fics [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien literally chasing Marinette, Alya On Board, Basket Chases, Best Friends, Build a snowman, Caught a Cold, Christmas Time, December - Freeform, Disney, F/M, Favorite song, First Day, Fluff, Gen, Mistletoe, More Fluff, Nino Plotting, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pillow Fight, Really fluffy, Sleigh Ride, Stitches, Treats, Unbridled Enthusiasm, Wake Up Call, conspiring, post-reveal, slow burn?, sweets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-02-09 00:16:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 63,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12876126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giggling_bubble/pseuds/giggling_bubble
Summary: December 1st is THE day of the year that Alya always shares special with Marinette. This was their own little tradition, still sort of is, that has ballooned as others take notice of their antics more and more each year.What could be in store this holiday season?





	1. Day 1: Christmas Time Is Here

**Author's Note:**

> NOT beta read, re-read, or edited. This is the rough type, straight through, no edits. The entire work will be this way to save time and make it easier for me. If you don't like the idea of that then don't read. This is my 'I want to write, but don't want to dedicate all that time and effort into editing' fic. Continue if you wish...

It was the first day of December, and Alya woke up bursting with anticipation as her alarm blared at five am. She bolted out of bed, threw on her clothes, and got ready for school. If she hurried, she could get to Marinette’s house before she woke up.

Alya had a tradition every year. The first day of December she would go and wake Marinette up. This was their last year in lycee, so she might not have another chance. No one knew what the future would bring and she wasn’t going to let this moment pass her by.

She tied her boots up to her knees, threw on her fur lined parka, and bolted out into the bitterly cold wind of a winter in Paris. The street lights were still on and the horizon was pitch black. Every once in a while she would see lights on, but few and far between.

When Alya made it to the bakery, she grinned as Sabine held the door open for her, beckoning her inside.

“We were expecting you!” Sabine grinned and pulled Alya into a warm embrace. Alya loved Madame Cheng’s hugs this time of year. She smelled of cinnamon and vanilla and Alya could smell the cinnamon rolls and snickerdoodles baking. Oh, how she loved that her best friend’s parents were bakers. Yes, she would have to get a sample later, but for now, she had one goal. Marinette.

Alya raced up the stairs, shouting a quiet hello to M. Dupain, as she made her way through the kitchen and into the apartment above; she tip-toed quietly up to Marinette’s room and slipped in through the trapdoor, as quiet as a mouse, so as not to disturb her slumber.

With a smile lighting up her face, she could almost hear the hallelujah choir singing, as she jumped onto the dark pile of blankets in the middle of the bed. There was a quiet, “Ooof,” and a sleepy, “What?” muttered beneath her.

“Marinette!” she sang, “Do you know what day it is?”

“Nooo,” she groaned as she rolled over to see Alya lying on top of her.

Her eyes widened, alight with anticipation, “It’s December.”

Like a light bulb had clicked on, her friend’s eyes widened and she bolted upright in bed with a squeal, “JOYEUX NOEL!!!!”

If there was one thing Alya knew Marinette loved, more than just about anything, it was Christmas. She was gaga for it. Marinette would turn into a child as soon as she woke up and Alya lived for it.

“Joyeux Noel, Marinette,” she grinned, “But not yet. You still have to wait until the twenty-fifth.”

Marinette waved her hand, “Bah, Christmas time is here!” Marinette easily slipped into a rendition of the song ‘Christmas Time is Here’ and hopped out of her bed to find all the clothes she’d picked out last night for just this occasion. She knew it was coming, that Alya would show up at the butt-crack of dawn to wake her up, but she was always slow to full-consciousness and Alya got such a kick out of reminding her. It was a win-win for them both. Plus, every year she could look forward to bringing in the holiday season with her best friend, just the two of them, with plenty of cheer and anticipation.

“We have to get to school, though, so hurry and come get me. I’m heading downstairs to get some of those cinnamon rolls. YUM!”

Marinette’s eyes widened and beamed, “Oh, my GOD! I love Christmas!! Save some for me.”

“Gingerbread, snickerdoodles, sugar cookies, oh my,” Alya cackled as she left through the trap door.

“You glutton,” Marinette called after as Alya disappeared.

* * *

The girls arrived to school, arms full of treats that Marinette’s parents sent with them every year. It was a special ‘bring in the season’ gift to all her peers. She’d be lucky if she and Alya actually made it to the classroom with any treats left in their baskets.

Alya and Marinette ran, huddled through the courtyard, all the way up to their classroom. Students had been waiting to pounce, all of them completely aware of how this tradition worked, and it had almost become a game of cat and mouse.

What Marinette hadn’t anticipated, was a trap. As she walked backwards through the door, smirking back at Alya, caught by the droves of drooling students, she felt arms wrap around her like a vice.

“You’re planning on sharing some of those with me, aren’t you, Marinette?” he cooed quietly into her ear.

“Adrien!?” she exclaimed as the basket slipped from her grip. He leaned forward and caught it with ease, his reflexes saving them all.

“I heard the commotion and knew you were here.” His eyes twinkled with mirth, “Of course I was waiting. So…” He dropped his eyes to look at the basket he now held in his hands, “May I?”

She giggled nervously, “Uh, sure. Yeah. I mean, I planned to share.”

“I’m your first? I’m honored.” He lifted the fabric on the top and his eyes widened, “Thank the heavens for this, Marinette. I don’t even know what to choose.”

Marinette watched intently as he perused the contents of the basket.

“Cinnamon rolls, gingerbread boys…and girls, snicker doodles, sugar cookies, springerles, butter cookies, FUDGE?!” he squeaked, “They made fudge?!”

“It’s new,” she grinned, “ _Papa_ is trying a few new recipes this year. There’s peppermint, walnut, and salted caramel.”

Adrien’s fingertips pressed gingerly against his lips as his eyes glazed over. Fudge. She brought fudge.

“Adrien…?” He hadn’t said anything and she was starting to worry, “It’s just fudge.”

His eyes jerked up to look at her and stifled a gasp. He wanted to yank the basket away from her protectively, but refrained. “It is practically a holiday food group.”

Marinette rolled her eyes and he grinned, “I’m sure my parents would give you all you want to eat if you asked.”

Without realizing the Pandora’s box she just opened, he grinned mischievously, “I will.”

At about that moment, Nino appeared at the classroom with a frown. He was staring down dismally at his tennis shoes.

“Dude, this day sucks. I got here late, forgot it was the first day of December, and get this—Marinette and Alya brought treats from Tom and Sabine’s. I didn’t even get one.”

Alya appeared with her empty basket and shrugged, “They just grabbed me. Not much I could do.”

Marinette grinned over to Adrien, who was smoothly holding the basket behind his back, and strolling over to Nino, “Joyeux Noel, bud.” He held the basket out to Nino who looked like he’d just received the best gift in the world. “They didn’t catch Marinette.”

Adrien gave Marinette a look of immense pride. His friend had managed to avoid the hoard of waiting peers. This was a feat she accomplished every year, like clockwork, and he was almost convinced she did it just for him and Nino. Nino was notoriously oblivious to dates, and Adrien tried to avoid crowds, which was not conducive to them partaking in the joys of this highly adored tradition.

Don’t forget Alya, though, who always seemed to take one for the team. Marinette knew she got caught every year, on purpose, so she could sneak off to the classroom with the second basket of sweets. They were awesome at working together.

“I had to make sure to save the best for last, right?” she grinned over to Nino who nodded appreciatively.

“Thanks, Marinette.”

“No problem. Besides, this year, Adrien caught me fair and square.”

Adrien scoffed, “It wasn’t even a challenge.”

“Oh-ho!” Marinette exclaimed. “We’ll see about that.”

At about that time, Nino had selected a treat and Adrien was reaching for the basket once again. This time, however, Marinette snatched it out of his reach and bolted out of the classroom.

Adrien grinned after her, a predatory glint in his eyes, “If you’ll excuse me, I believe I have a basket to catch.”

Alya and Nino exchanged knowing glances. Lately, Marinette and Adrien had taken to being playful with each other. It was sort of a culmination of things, really. Marinette started talking to Adrien and Adrien started opening up to them all as a result. It seemed they fed off of each other; the more confident Marinette was, the more confident Adrien was, and it was running away with them both.

“Kids,” Alya scoffed.

“Yeah,” Nino gulped nervously, “Uh, Alya, while they’re gone. I was wondering if, I mean, I’ve talked to your mom and…” his eyes about bugged out of his head. _Talked to your mom? Come on, Lahiffe. LAME!_ “What I was going to say is we’ve sort of planned to do something cool. I wanted to know if you wanted to help out.”

“My mother and you are colluding on what exactly?”

Nino glanced around nervously, “I can’t talk about it here, but I wondered if you wanted to help out. It was my idea, and your mom liked it, but she doesn’t want you to get involved. I want you to show up as a surprise.”

“Oookay,” she glanced out the window and dropped an eyebrow, “It’s not illegal, is it?”

Nino bit his lip and shifted on his feet, “Not exactly.”

“Oh, Nino! Mama! How could you? No wonder she doesn’t want me helping out.”

“So that’s a no?”

“Shut up!” she pushed his shoulder, “I can tell this is for a good cause, you’ve got that whole Robin Hood vibe about you. Of COURSE I’ll help out. Mum’s the word.”

Nino busted out laughing and nodded, “Yeah. No kidding. Don’t tell your mom, though, or I'll be toast.”

“No way. What about Marinette and Adrien?” she asked.

Nino looked away. He sort of thought this could be something he and Alya could do together, alone, and have some time to talk. “Uh, I don’t want them to get into trouble. I think that your mom is already involved so she’d be more understanding.”

Alya nodded. Adrien’s dad would shit a brick if he found out his son was involved and she didn’t dare dampen Marinette’s spirits this time of year with something like getting in trouble. No, this would be between the two of them. “Okay, Nino, it’ll just be you and me.”

“Yeah,” he smiled and held up a fist for her to bump, “You and me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just typed this _this_ morning. All of the chapters in this fic will be typed the day of. I am afraid I won't be typing much on my other fics for a while. I just hope I'm able to stay on top of these day after day; considering I'm strapped for time and will be gone for a week, so...there's that.  
>  **Crossing my fingers I can! :) If I can't, I'll make it up to you after the New Year and you'll just have to pretend it's still Christmas.


	2. Day 2: Deck the Halls

Nino tucked his scarf into his coat and pulled it up around his chin. There were no friends in sight. He stuck his hands into his pockets and rocked onto his toes. Yep, here was here, on time, and everyone else was late.

“Sorry, Nino!” came Alya’s voice from behind him, “I’m so sorry I’m late. Thanks for waiting for me, though.” She was out of breath and clutching her phone to her chest like it was a national treasure.

“And I take it there’s a reason?” his lips twisted comically as he waited for her, no doubt, animated explanation.

“YES!!” she shouted excitedly, but held a finger up in pause. Alya was out of breath from running the entire way there. “Akuma,” she gasped, “There was an akuma.” She tapped her phone, “Sent a text.”

Nino’s brow rose in confusion as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He hadn’t remembered getting a text, and yet, lo and behold, there was a text from Alya…and his phone was on silent. Great. “Uh, yeah, I guess you did.”

“Told you,” she spluttered, “I chased it on foot, all the way to the Louvre, where it pinned Chat Noir to a pane of glass with a giant suction cup. I saved him, by the way, and I got it ON CAMERA!” Alya squealed and grinned, “I saved the day!!”

“Saving Chat Noir is hardly saving the day,” Nino shook his head with a grin.

Alya glared, “Aren’t you a ray of sunshine. For your information, I DID save the day, because if I hadn’t saved Chat, he couldn’t have blocked Ladybug, and we’d all be bowing down to a diva in a purple suit with a butterfly obsession. You see?”

Nino nodded, “Okay, I’ll give it to you.” He glanced up to see Alya staring at him intently and his cheeks flushed.

“You’ll give it to me? You’ll _give it to me_?” Alya grabbed a hold of his shoulders, Nino’s eyes widening in surprise, “No, Nino, I _earned_ it.”

He blushed at the close proximity. This close to her face he could see all the flecks of amber in her caramel eyes; the shimmering filaments of bronze in her auburn hair. Yeah, he was in trouble.

“Why are you just staring—say something!” she demanded.

“What am I supposed to say?” he asked breathlessly.

Alya let go of his coat and smoothed it out with her hands. If she were paying more attention, she’d have felt his chest still as his breathing stopped at the action. “You should acknowledge me as the Goddess I am, for one. I guess bowing down and doing my bidding would be nice,” she smirked.

Nino grinned and started to kneel, “Oh, Goddess Alya, I am not worthy. You saved Chat Noir and I am now forever in your debt. How am I ever to repay you for saving my meager, insignificant life—“

“Hey, now, that’s enough,” Alya chuckled as she lifted him back to a standing position by his chin, “You’ve made your point. A thank you, I suppose, would be sufficient.”

“Thank you, Alya, for saving Chat Noir,” a voice from behind Alya signaled Marinette’s arrival.

“Yes, thank you,” Adrien agreed as he ran from the same direction Marinette had just appeared from. They exchanged a knowing glance.

“Sorry I’m so late, guys, but that akuma was intense,” Marinette lamented.

Adrien nodded in agreement, “I hate akumas. I was on my way when it came out of nowhere.”

“Me, too,” Alya nodded, “Wasn’t it great?!”

Marinette and Adrien both glowered in her direction, but Alya didn’t notice as she dove into her footage of the latest akuma.

“Just a few more edits and this baby will be ready for the ladyblog,” she cheered. The other three rolled their eyes at her regular antics. Of course, Alya would be ecstatic about akuma footage.

They made their way to the café they’d discussed. It was decked out in white and red with candy decals plastered across the window.

“Well, they took ‘Deck the Halls’ a bit seriously,” Nino chuckled. He could see that inside the shop was decoration after decoration. Baubles hanging from the ceiling, glittered garland draped on the booths, and decals on the walls and windows. Yes, they had gone a little ‘Christmas crazy’ and Marinette _loved_ it.

“Nonesese!” Marinette exclaimed, “Oooh, and I love peppermint. Peppermint everything!”

“Peppermint is the best,” Adrien agreed.

Alya scoffed, “Cinnamon kicks peppermint’s patoot any day.”

“Amen, sister,” Nino nodded.

“No way!” Adrien gasped, “Cinnamon is all nice and everything, in cookies or on popcorn, but not in a drink. Ewww.”

“I love hot spiced cider with cinnamon,” Nino hummed, “Mmmhmm.”

“Oooh, yeah, me, too,” Alya agreed with a nod.

Nino watched intently as she licked her lips. Was it suddenly hotter around here? He pulled his collar to allow for better circulation to his brain.

“I’m with Adrien. Peppermint…all…the…way.”

“Nope,” Alya shook her head, “Okay, well, that answers that, doesn’t it?”

“Answers what?”

“Who is sharing drinks with who,” Alya shrugged, “You and Adrien can share the mint milk shakes while Nino and I share a buttered cider.”

Adrien beamed, “That’s a great idea! I can never finish one by myself because they’re huge!”

Marinette blushed, “Uh, okay. Sure.”

 

Their drinks came and went, ridiculously fast. Marinette stared at the giant milk shake sitting between her and Adrien and felt her jaw dropping. She shouldn’t have been worried, though, because by the look on Adrien’s face, this would be no difficult task. Hungry eyes is all that came to mind, but in a very literal sense of the word.

The shake was called a ‘Top-tier’ and it was a liter and a half of ice cream, milk, cream cheese, whatever flavor you choose, whipped cream, and cherries. Theirs came out, white as the snow, with drizzled chocolate on the inside of the glass. The top was covered in whipped cream and had two cherries and two large straws. The shakes were so heavy the waitress had ‘her boys’ come deliver it to the table. Alya and Nino stared on in awe, too, as their very large, albeit less impressive, buttered apple cider arrived.

“You ready?” Adrien asked with glee as he grabbed one of the straws and plunged it deeper into the glass.

“I’ve never had a ‘Top-tier’ before.” She hesitantly grabbed the straw with shaking hands, this was the moment that everyone looks forward to as romantic in movies, and yet, right now she wasn’t sure if the nervousness was from having a moment like that with Adrien or intimidation at the size of this shake.

“Let’s eat these first,” he reached forward and plucked a cherry off of the top, “Open up, Mari!”

She only had a split second to register what he’d said and did as instructed. It took a bit longer for her brain to catch up to what was going on as he popped a cherry in her mouth with a laugh.

“You eat it,” he grinned and lifted her chin with his fingertips, “It’s the best part!”

Marinette felt the cold, melting whipped cream and the cool juices from the cherry when her tongue rolled it around in her mouth. Adrien had just fed her a cherry. She stared up at him with wonder in her eyes as he grinned.

“My turn,” he announced as he closed his eyes and opened his mouth. Marinette stared for a moment in shock, before plucking the last cherry off of the top and popping it into his mouth. Her aim was a little less accurate as his had been, however, as it bounced off of his lip and she had to reach forward reflexively to pop it the rest of the way in.

She ended up with a palm full of whipped cream and he ended up with a milky grin. Either way, Alya had everything on video and her friends were marvelously oblivious.

“Sorry,” she grimaced bashfully, “I…that was a mess.” Marinette looked down at her hand and the mess of whipped cream there.

Adrien just beamed and grabbed her hand, “No, it was fun.” With that, he proceeded to give Marinette an attempted heart attack, as he grabbed her hand and licked up the length of her palm, to the uproarious laughter of Alya and Nino across the way.

“Girl, your face is so red,” Alya chuckled. Adrien got a mischievous look on his face, her hand still clasped in his, and stared directly at the camera to rake his teeth gently down Marinette’s now clean palm.

“AHH!” she gasped and shrieked, “That tickles!” She felt his impish laughter puff out across her fingers as he pulled away and licked his lips.

Nervously, he glanced around the café and lowered his head, “I suppose I should be more careful.”

Nino waved his hand and grinned, “I got you. Not a lurker in sight.”

Everyone knew what Nino was talking about. Ever since they’d started hanging out more with Adrien in public, they’d become his new ‘advance team’ with eyes and ears on the ground to make sure that he could be himself when at all possible and mind his impeccable manners when necessary.

Adrien reached across the table and high-fived Nino, “What would I do without you guys.”

“Probably be locked up in your room because you disgraced your father with embarrassing tabloid spreads? Adrien Agreste sloppily licks girl’s hand, page one,” Alya smirked, “I’d be offended if I didn’t get to write it. No way am I letting some low-down paparazzi get the jump on me.”

“You’re recording, Alya?!” Marinette squeaked.

Alya smirked, “Of course. Can’t you tell? Adrien’s being such a ham.”

Said boy glanced away, “It’s a habit I can’t seem to break.”

 _I don’t mind_ Marinette added to herself just before Alya grinned, “My girl doesn’t mind.”

Their eyes locked and Alya smirked as Marinette’s face darkened a shade or two. She didn’t dare deny it since Alya knew it was true. She also had a pretty strong gut feeling that Alya knew she was thinking just that. Crazy mind-reading friends are a pain in the ass.

Their initial excitement died down and made way for peaceful conversation. Marinette got to the bottom of the shake and glanced over to Adrien, who had been trying so hard to pace himself so he didn’t drink the entire thing. He was staring off into space to avoid it.

“You can have the rest,” she whispered with a nudge of her elbow.

He turned to face her, disbelief pasted across his face. Adrien knew he’d already had more than his fair share of the shake as his enthusiasm got the better of him, but Marinette was still telling him he could have the rest.

“No, Marinette, I already had more than my half.”

She pushed the glass closer to him, “Go ahead. I’m done. It was delicious, don’t get me wrong, but I couldn’t finish the rest without feeling too full.”

He grinned, “Thanks, Marinette!” He slipped the straw into his lips and glanced across the table to Nino. He caught Nino’s attention and mumbled around the straw, “Nino, you’ve been demoted. Marinette is my new drink buddy.” He glanced back to Marinette, grinned, and winked. She could just feel the heat crawling up her cheeks.

“Whatever, man,” Nino gestured nonchalantly, “The joke’s on you. I was just helping you watch your figure.”

Adrien glared and sucked particularly hard on the straw in response. The rest of the table laughed when they heard the tell-tale empty slurp at the bottom.

They talked a bit more, Marinette mentioning she had some Christmas shopping to get done. She immediately told Nino he should go with her, tomorrow, since Alya would be busy watching her sisters for the day. They could both get their favorite girl shopping done.

Adrien felt a little bummed that he wouldn’t be included in this shopping trip, but he wasn’t about to invite himself to go. They hadn’t asked him, after all. He didn’t feel particularly jovial or jolly like the rest of his friends, either. There wasn’t any cookie baking, carol singing, and only limited gift buying in his future. Nathalie did supply a tree to decorate, but it wasn’t the same doing it by yourself.

 _Great, now I’m depressed._ He thought.

Marinette noticed Adrien deflate and grinned over at him, “You can’t come because I’m shopping for you, too.”

He felt his lips quirk up into a bit of a smile at that. A sense of relief washed over him with the explanation as to why he wasn’t invited. He felt a lot better about it, actually.

“I understand,” he nodded.

It was time to leave and they headed off towards their respective homes. Alya branched off first, as her house was the closest, while Nino and Adrien walked with Marinette.

“This was fun,” Adrien grinned, “I’d never been to that place before.”

“It’s Alya’s favorite café,” Nino grinned, “Which is actually more of an ice cream parlor, but don’t let her hear I said that. _They serve coffee, hot tea, and pie, Nino_ ,” he imitated her voice.

“She’s a trip,” Marinette giggled. As if it mattered if it was a café or an ice cream parlor.

“Well, this is me,” Nino puffed his warm breath into his gloves and pulled his scarf up around his chin, “Guess I’ll see you tomorrow, Marinette.”

“Sure will! I look forward to it,” she nodded. “See ya, Nino.”

Adrien grabbed his hand and pulled him into a hug, tapping his back and whispering his farewells.

She and Adrien continued on their original route. He lived only a couple blocks farther past the bakery.

“Thanks for buying the milk shake today.”

“No problem,” he shrugged, “I drank most of it.”

“I don’t really need a lot.”

“That’s why I meant what I said,” he grinned, “You and I are sharing drinks from now on. With Nino, it’s like a race to the finish to make sure you get your fair share. Then we both end up with brain freezes.”

“It’s like biting off your nose to spite your face,” she grinned.

He pursed his lips in a pout, “Nino and I are both growing boys…we’re growing _men_ , and consume more calories than most people.”

“Sure,” she grinned, “Excuses are like a—“

“MARINETTE!!!” he exclaimed in shock, “Language!”

“I was going to say,” she continued, “Excuses are like _anchovies_ ; salty and difficult to swallow.”

“I could say that about some other things, too…”

Marinette’s eyes widened and she reached over to playfully punch him in the arm. Her jaw was dropped in disbelief, “ADRIEN AGRESTE!”

He stuck his tongue into his cheek and stifled a chuckle. Then he turned to glance at her shyly, “What did you think I meant?”

She blushed and turned away. No way was she touching that with a ten foot pole; not even if it was likely only a few inches at the moment. Nope, _nope_ , NOPE!

“I meant green olives, by the way,” he elaborated.

“Sure,” she nodded and looked away while Adrien chuckled to himself. He really did hate green olives, and she knew that, so he could easily turn this whole thing on her so she was stopping while she was still ah…in the lead.

“I hate them.”

“I know,” she smirked. Then she stopped and stood there for a second. She’d been meaning to tell him about this for a while, but didn’t have the chance, “Cheese…”

“Pardon?”

“It’s how I found out,” she shrugged.

Unlike popular belief, Chat Noir and Ladybug did not freak out when they discovered each other’s identities. No, it was more like they just accepted it and avoided the implications. Chat Noir was less flirtatious, more interested in Ladybug as a person, and Ladybug had started being more playful with Chat. That was the only difference.

(Do you really want to read another reveal??)

“What do you mean by that?” he asked, “Cheese?”

“I remember all kinds of things about you, right?” she was just going to leave it at that since she wanted to maintain that ‘not creeper’ vibe here, “So I knew what kinds of foods you liked and disliked. Camembert? You always had it on you, but never ate it; not once. Then, when Chat Noir mentioned that his kwami ate pounds of it a week, I knew.”

He nodded, “Ah, well, that wouldn’t have been a big deal if you didn’t know me already.”

“I know, but I did,” she nodded.

“I’m grateful you’re my best friend, Marinette,” he reached over to her and gave her a friendly fist-bump.

She returned it and nodded, “We make a great team.”

“The best!” he agreed. “Well, looks like this is your stop. Like always, if you need anything just text or call and I’ll be there.”

Marinette felt her cheeks warm beneath her scarf and looked down at her feet. It was a special exception he’d made just for her; to _always_ be there if she ever needed anything. She realized it was mostly for safety’s sake, but it still sent delicious warmth clear through her. Although, her crush had lessened, changed, her feelings for him had only increased as they evolved into something more.

Adrien had entered her phone number into all of his phones, and put it on record with Nathalie. If she had wondered why he wanted Marinette to have all access to him, she didn’t make it known. Instead, she just smirked to herself and did what he asked.

“I know,” she nodded, “You, too. Thanks, Adrien.”

“No problem.” Marinette turned to go up to her house when she felt a hand on her wrist. “Come here, bug.”

Before she had a moment to register what was happening, he’d pulled her into a friendly embrace.

“I had lots of fun today.”

 _Don’t read anything in to it. He hugged Nino. We’ve hugged before._ “Yeah, me, too.”

Even so, Marinette knew the entire day would be on replay in her head for the rest of the night.


	3. Day 3: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Finally posted day three AND day four.

Marinette lied back on her bed and stared up at her skylight with a dazed expression. Yesterday had been perfect! Adrien and she shared a milk shake. He let her have the last little bit, she let him have the whipped cream, and they each took a cherry. It was marvelous and she wrote every single detail in her diary; right down to the fact he was wearing the charm bracelet she’d given him and kept tapping out the song Christmas carols on the table; Deck the Halls, Jingle Bells, Joy to the World.

Her phone began to ring and her heart was instantly in her throat. It could be one of three people; Alya, calling to tell her a story of the crazy shenanigans her sisters were getting into, Nino, to say he was here to pick her up for shopping, or Adrien, sending her a ridic-pic because he knew it would make her smile. Those were usually selfies or memes, but sometimes they were voyeuristic snapshots of his father working with hilarious captions. One time, Gabriel was sitting with his chin in his hand, obviously in deep thought, which Adrien captioned, ‘They have laxatives for that.’

She opened her phone to see two new text messages. One was from Alya, and with the title S.O.S. Marinette covered her mouth to stifle her hysterical laughter when she saw the picture. One of her sisters looked like a drowned rat; hair dripping and wrapped up in a towel. The caption read, “She decided to give herself a swirly and my day has just begun. Heaven help me!”

Marinette typed out a quick response.

**Marinette: I would love to help, but I’m Christmas shopping today.**

The second text was from Nino.

**Nino: I’m about five minutes out. Be there in as soon as I can.**

She heaved a sigh. Her friends were such dorks. Well, except Adrien, he was a nerd. She frowned when she realized he hadn’t texted her yet. They had a sort of game between them where he’d text her a selfie as soon as he woke up, bed head and all, to get her to send him one back. Perhaps he’d decided it wasn’t fun anymore?

That thought quickly evaporated when she got another text. She flipped it open and there was a selfie of Adrien with his hair pulled off towards the direction of the mini-fridge in his room. She laughed uproariously because she knew Plagg had to be pulling his hair. The pain evident on his scrunched up face, and the unnatural way his skin was pulled taught by the roots of his hair on his scalp, was enough to tell her the rest of the story.

**Marinette: Cute. He’s an impatient little guy, huh?**

**Adrien: Did you just call him cute? Impatient doesn’t even come close. Wanna trade?**

**Marinette: No, and no thanks. :P**

Marinette leaned back and quickly snapped her own selfie to send his direction. She forgot to send one when she woke up, but he would be equally entertained at her current get-up. She’d gone all out for shopping today with the jingle bells she’d hung from her miraculous earrings, the antler headband on her head, her over-dramatically painted rosy cheeks, the green cable-knit sweater over a white polo, and her red scarf tied beneath the collar. She knew it was cheesy, but she liked to think it was kind of cute, too.

**Adrien: You are so adorable!**

She flushed and typed back.

**Marinette: Thank you. Have a great day, Adrien.**

**Adrien: You,too, Marinette.**

With a silly grin on her face, and a strange fluttering feeling in her chest, she clutched her phone over her heart and sighed. It had been a little over four months since she and Adrien had discovered each other’s secret. Three months of complex relationship analysis; from their increased comfort with each other to the minutiae she read in to what every little glance meant. It was impossible for her to read his mind, but it didn’t stop her from trying.

Marinette was still head over heels for Adrien, but now instead of feeling frustration and desire for him, she felt elation for him when he was excited, she felt upset when he was down, and an almost physical pain of fear every time he got into an airplane or went away for too long of a time. It wasn’t because she was afraid of fighting akumas alone, either. No, it was all for Adrien and the potential chance something bad could happen and he’d be too far away for her to get to him. It was a completely foreign feeling for her. It was as if her emotional state was dependent on his and that terrified her. No one person should have that kind of power over another, but for some reason she had a tingling feeling in her gut that this was how it was supposed to be between them.

The most positive aspect of their newfound relationship, post-reveal, was the way they could almost read how each other was feeling at any given time. Yesterday, over milkshakes, she’d invited Nino out Christmas shopping with her today. It wasn’t that she didn’t want Adrien to come, but she was doing _his_ Christmas shopping. As soon as she’d seen his shoulders slump, just slightly, so insignificantly, that only someone with well-trained in the mannerisms of Adrien Agreste would notice. Nino didn’t. She did. Her Adrien empathy meter was functioning at 100% capacity yesterday, and for some uncanny reason, it was like that all the time now.

It was reciprocal, though, seeing as he could almost read her without saying anything, too. It was vexing sometimes how easily he could fluster her and then giggled like a madman. She knew he needed that, and she was more than willing to be his comedic relief if she could see that brilliant smile light up his eyes.

Her phone dinged.

**Nino: Outside now.**

**Marinette: On my way.**

Nino was waiting, his coat pulled up and gloves dug deep into his pockets, “Hurry, Marinette. It’s freezing.”

Her eyes widened when she saw the sedan waiting, “Whaaaa…?”

“Adrien,” he rolled his eyes, “He said he didn’t want us freezing and he wasn’t going anywhere. He leant us his driver for the day. I’m pretty sure he plans on holding me hostage after, though, to grill me about today.” Nino grimaced and glanced away.

“No you will not!” Marinette gasped, “You tell him to keep his nose to himself.”

Nino nodded, “I will. BUT,” he gestured to the sedan and waggled his eyebrows, “Let’s not let this go to waste. Think of it as his charitable contribution.” Marinette scoffed. “Or it is a sign of his concern for our safety. Either way, you gotta admit this is pretty sweet.”

Marinette knew Nino meant sweet as in ‘cool,’ but she couldn’t help, but agree that it was pretty sweet, as in kind, of him.

“Okay, let’s go,” she exclaimed as she jumped into the back of the car. Arthur, Adrien’s long-term driver and bodyguard, closed the door behind them. He’d been giving her the strangest looks for the past few weeks and she had decided she liked him. Arthur was there for Adrien in ways that his father wasn’t, which made her feel extremely grateful for his presence in Adrien’s life since his mom left.

They had yet to discuss his mom, and the impact her disappearance had had on his life, but she could always tell around the holidays he’d get upset. She was determined to keep that from happening again. Now that she knew him, really knew him, she was going to be there for him this Christmas.

“Where to?” she asked as she slipped her gloves off and pressed her hands to the blower. The hot air pushed through her fingers. She loved how just that little warmth could spread right into her core.

“How about that new novelty store, La Lueur, on Rue du Commerce?” he asked, “Alya has been eyeing some of the Ladybug merch for the last month and then the computer store next door has some pretty awesome deals on video editing software.”

“Sounds like Alya all right,” she grinned, “I think that would be perfect. Plus, a street full of shops? What can go wrong?”

“Did you bring enough money for this adventure?”

She gaped, “What do you take me for? An amateur? Of course I brought enough money for this trip. I’ve been saving up, thank you very much, and pouncing on every sale to stretch my euro. Plus, my parents advanced my pay through the New Year, so I’m set.”

“Lucky duck!” he frowned, “I’ve been begging my parents for an advance, but they told me I’ll just have to wait for my Christmas money. Which, if you haven’t caught on yet, Christmas is AFTER shopping.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Oh, I just sweet talked my brother into lending me some money to pay back later,” he grinned, “I told him I couldn’t buy his present without it.”

“You’re so sneaky.”

“I do what I’ve got to do to get things done,” he nodded, “and I do it with the best of intentions, dudette. I’ll pay him back.”

The first store they entered was a complete bust. Marinette wasn’t too optimistic from the outside, though. It was rather ritzy and everything was overpriced. They did have a cute Ladybug and Chat Noir charms, fashioned out of sterling silver or gold, with either emerald stones for Chat’s eyes and sapphires for Ladybug’s eyes. Each charm was €80.

“Too rich for my blood,” Nino grumbled.

“It’s okay. Alya wouldn’t want any of those charms, anyway. She’d be so afraid of losing it, or scratching it up, that she’d never enjoy it.”

“True,” he nodded, “Hey, what about this one?”

This was La Lueur. Marinette had secretly been anticipating this trip. The store opening had been two months ago, but the crowds were always so crazy that she’d been purposely avoiding it. Luckily, as she and Nino arrived, there were very few people. She glanced at her watch and it was 12:30. No wonder there were no crowds, it was lunch time. About that moment her stomach grumbled. She could wait until after, though, to avoid the rush.

“This is it, Marinette,” Nino exclaimed as he held the door open, “If we don’t find something for her here then I’m a complete failure.”

“Don’t say that,” she whined, “I’d hate to mess this up. I have to shop for her, too, you know.”

“Then let the best man win…which is me. I’m going to win.”

“Is this a competition, Lahiffe? Because you are SO on. I’ll find her the best gift, first, and you’ll be bowing down to my prowess; begging for secrets.”

“Dream on.”

With that, they darted off in separate directions to find gifts for Alya. Alya was such a tricky person to buy for because she always acted excited, but you wanted to get her that thing that made her eyes light up.

It took Marinette about ten minutes, but she finally found the holy grail of Alya displays. Well, a combination. As if placed in front of her, by the divine, she stared at the little cabinet full of Ladybug accessories; earbuds, bracelets, wrist watches, necklaces, phone cases, wrist cuffs, eyeglasses, shoe lace charms, earrings, rings, hair ties, gloves, scarves, hats, etc. She glanced around and saw that Nino was no where in sight.

“Y-e-e-e-s!” she hissed as she grabbed the ladybug wrist cuffs and a portfolio organizer for all of her journalism related items. She’d love it!

Nino strolled up behind her, whistling, “Man, Marinette, looks like you found a hoard of ladybug items.”

“I know, right? Isn’t it great?” she gave him a smug grin.

“Yeah,” he clicked his tongue, “Too bad I found it first.” He held up a necklace, letting it dangle from his fingers, and a pair of over-the-ear headphones. He rocked the headphones, “To remember me by, but still rock the Ladybug theme.”

Marinette tried to glower at his boasting, but it was too sweet and she ended up pursing her lips, in an attempt not to smile, instead, “Oh, Nino, she’ll love it!”

“You think so?!”

“Absolutely,” she nodded, “This necklace is adorable.”

They started to walk towards the register when Marinette let out a discouraged sigh.

“What’s wrong, Marinette?”

“I spent so much time shopping for Alya that I forgot to shop for Adrien.”

Nino grinned, “Funny you should mention that.”

“NO! What did you find?”

He walked her over to a little display case, much like the Ladybug one, but this one had Chat Noir themed stuff. She side-eyed Nino suspiciously. Did he know? No. Adrien had assured her he didn’t. Plus, Adrien was loco for Ladybug.

“You realize he’s a Ladybug fan, right?” she asked to test the waters.

Nino shrugged, “Yeah, I know, but you realize the dude’s like the biggest cat freak, right? I found the most hilarious little cat plush.” Nino pulled a little black cat push off of the shelf. Marinette about swallowed her tongue with how much it looked like his kwami, Plagg. “Check this out. Isn’t it adorable? It’s a little black cat, but you know what else? It has an ego the size of France.” Nino took the cat plush and punched it in the face. The little cat plush said in a whiny voice, ‘Bow down to me, human,’ ‘Worship me,’ ‘Where is my food, peasant.’

Marinette covered her mouth, her cheeks bulging out, just before she burst out in laughter, “Oh, my gosh!!! This is perfect!!!!”

Nino grinned, “I told you. Cute, right?”

She was sure Nino didn’t know Adrien was Chat; otherwise, he would never have suggested getting him a plush black cat that would remind him of his annoying kwami. This was perhaps the best gag gift she’d never have been able to find without Nino. It was so stinking perfect! He’d love to hate it so much. She could just imagine him smiling as he punched it in the face; probably repeatedly if Plagg was acting up. He’d take immense joy in making him watch, too, which was why it was the perfect gift for him. It was just too great to pass up.

“Thank you, Nino! This is beautiful. It’s absolutely perfect for him,” she grinned, “All those ridiculous cat memes. I’m going to enjoy this.”

“He’s going to throw it at you,” Nino grinned.

“And then he’ll hear the glorious negativity that is this black cat,” she hummed happily, “He’ll love it!”

“Hey, now, not like finding the perfect gift for me and Alya is important or anything…”

Marinette slugged him in the arm, “You know he’s the hardest person to buy for…like ever. What do you buy someone who has everything?”

“I’m not,” he shrugged, “I’m setting aside some free time I have just to hang out with him. My music can wait a month.”

Marinette was planning on doing the same, but for some reason she felt an immense affection for Nino in that moment. It was different when someone else did it and she smiled as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders, “You are such a great friend.”

“I also got him a video game that we can beat the hell out of while we’re hanging out,” he chuckled.

Marinette knew there was more to it, but she knew, under the guise of beating a video game, was Nino’s intense desire to give his bud the greatest Christmas he could in the best way he knew how. Gifts were nice and all, but a person’s time is precious. Nino knew that, too.

“Adrien has all the best friends,” she pouted.

Nino nudged her with his shoulder, “Don’t think you’re not hanging out, too. I’ve already planned to kidnap you if you’re not busy.”

“Aww!” she threw both of her arms around him and jumped excitedly, “I have the best friends, too.”

“Don’t think I’m not going to make you all share the game,” he smirked, “Because I’m not made of money.”

“And Alya gets a special gift?” her brow rose in curiosity.

“Uh…yeah, um. I’m going to have to get back to you on that.” He scurried off towards the register.

“Nino, we’re not done talking about this. Nino!”

Marinette smirked as she realized two things, one, Nino was an awesome guy, and two, he was in love with her best friend. Both of these revelations brought her an extreme giddy happiness that threatened to bubble out of her eyeballs.

On their way home, and some more playful chiding by Marinette, Nino suddenly stopped.

“And then she said…Nino? Nino. What is it?”

He gaped at a storefront window and Marinette followed his gaze. Oh, how she’d been horribly wrong. Did she say holy grail earlier? Because she obviously had no concept of perception. 

The store front was freshly decorated in iridescent glitter over white fabric to give the illusion of snow. The window had been trimmed in ivy and a large red bow hung in the middle at the top. The street lights were all wrapped in green garland and had matching red bows affixed to the lamp. Bells could be heard from somewhere down the sidewalk and it was like they'd been lead here, at this moment, to this place. Everything was just too perfect and the festive energy positively thick.

Nino had just found the beat-all, end-all of all Christmas gifts for Alya, with a big ‘sale’ sign on it. She was just as in awe as he was.

“I have to,” he whined as he pulled the door open and didn’t even wait for Marinette to respond.

She followed him to the front window and could feel the crackling anticipation in the air. Nino gingerly reached for the box and closed it, latching the front of it, before hefting the heavy machine into his arms.

“I’m going to go see what kind of shape it is in, but then, if it works, I’m getting this.”

“How much is it?” Marinette asked. She was a little nervous at the price tag. Sure, it said ‘for sale’ but it didn’t mean it wasn’t going to be €100 or anything. That was way out of hers, and Nino’s, price range for Christmas presents.

They got to the front desk and Nino pulled at the tag. He frowned, “I bet there’s something wrong with it.”

“Why?” He held the tag out to her so she could read €30. “That’s GREAT, Nino!”

Nino wasn’t about to let himself get too excited, she could see him holding tension in his shoulders just waiting for the shoe to drop, when a kind looking older lady appeared at the cash register.

“Hello! How can I help you today?”

“I’m looking at this typewriter,” Nino turned it towards her, “Is there any way I could test it out before I buy it?”

The lady smiled, “Of course you can, dear.” She reached down beneath the desk and produced a piece of paper, “And if you like it, I’ll throw in the extra ribbons and correction papers. That is my old typewriter.”

“Why are you selling it?” Marinette asked. She couldn’t deny Alya had rubbed off on her over the years. The primary source of ownership was standing right here. How could she not ask?

“Oh, honey, it sat in my office for the last twenty years. My daughter bought me one of those new computers and I’ve never gone back to it. It was time to clear it out, I’m afraid. It’s like saying good-bye to an old friend,” she nodded sadly, “I just put it out this morning, actually.”

“Marinette!” Nino squealed through his teeth with wide eyes, “We have to buy this if it works.”Nino stared at the typewriter for another thirty seconds before he turned back to Marinette, “Uh, I just realized I don’t know how it works.”

“Here, dear, let me help you,” the woman flipped the carriage release lever and slipped the paper in behind the platen. She turned the platen knob until the paper was lined up where she wanted it. With a quick few types of the keys she pulled the paper out and handed it to Nino with a smile. It said, “I hope you love it as much as I have.”

Nino jumped up and down in one spot, his excitement finally free, “I’ll take it!” He pulled out his wallet and groaned, “Uh, Marinette, could you spot me a five?”

“Sure!” she nodded, “And don’t worry about paying me back, Nino. Consider it a gift.”

With their glorious Christmas find, and a few extras from the lady in the store, they were off to Marinette’s home.

“I want to tell you something,” Nino mused, “It’s not big, but I think I owe it to you. Don’t tell Alya, okay?”

“No, not a word.”

“I’m taking her out tomorrow to do something special with me. It’s not a date,” he elaborated as he held his hand out in defense, “We’ve already gone on dates. I mean, we’re dating, right? This is a bit _more_ than that.”

“For Pete’s sake, Nino, what is it?” she exclaimed as she watched him struggle to get his words out.

“I don’t like talking about it,” he groaned, “I don’t know why. I feel like it cheapens it, you know? When I think someone might make a big deal out of it.”

“What. Is. It?” she groaned, “I won’t make a big deal out of it. I promise!”

“Here, let me tell her where to meet me tomorrow first and then I’ll tell you all about it.”

**Nino (to Alya): You remember that thing, with the stuff, that we’re doing with your mom? Meet me behind the Grand Paris Hotel’s kitchen entrance tomorrow at noon.**

Nino turned to Marinette and sighed, there was a soft glow about him, as he talked. Joy was busting out all over his face and she felt compelled to hug him, but refrained. She had to reel it in. Marinette was more than excited, but she nodded dutifully and didn’t tell him how great she thought what he was doing was. Instead, she made a note for Ladybug and Chat Noir to crash it tomorrow and help out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rough, rough, rough. Not a whole lot of time to type. That's why I'm not typing on stories that require me to go back and 'remember' or 'research' what's going on. Somehow, I feel like I've just dug a hole and done exactly that. This just keeps running away from me and I'm drowning in it! (With a smile, though, so it's all good.)
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	4. Day 4: O Holy Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Posted days three and four today. Pointing this out so you don't accidentally skip it. It _might_ be important later. :/

“What do you think?” Marinette asked as she towel dried her hair. She’d called Adrien to tell him all about her idea for the day.

“I think that’s an excellent idea, my lady! We should absolutely do it!” he exclaimed jubilantly.

Marinette blushed at the use of his nickname for her. Ever since she’d discovered Chat was Adrien it had had that effect on her. It was awful. Adrien knew it and took advantage of her flustered state at every chance he could get. It both pleased and frustrated her to no end, because how could someone be so dense to her affections with reactions like that? Somehow, Adrien could.

“Great! We’ll just meet at your house, at noon, and we’ll head over from there.”

“It’s a date!” he called into the phone. She knew he didn’t mean it like that. After she’d illustrated Nino’s insistence that it ‘wasn’t a date,’ they’d had some laughs at Nino’s expense. It was sort of a running gag of the conversation. Although, for some reason she pictured a wink at the end of his statement, which caused her insides to turn to jelly.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” she answered.

“Marinette?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t make me wait,” he whined.

Marinette glanced over at her phone and it read 11:00.

“Okay, I’ll head over as soon as I’m dressed.” There was silence on the other end. Marinette could practically hear an awkward buzz or crickets. “Adrien?”

“Yeah, okay. See you then.”

She threw on a pair of jeans, a blouse, her coat, hat, gloves, shoes, and grabbed her purse, “Tikki, spots on!”

There was a flash of pink light and she swung out over the city. Pedestrians gazed upwards, ooing and awing, as she traveled the couple blocks to Adrien’s.

She landed with a resounding ‘oomph’ and a cloud of dust rose around her feet. It was less than a minute later that she heard a familiar ‘floof’ behind her.

“Cha—ahhh!” she squealed as he pounced on her. She hadn’t even had a chance to turn around before his arms wrapped around her and lifted her feet off of the ground. “Put me down, you silly Chat!”

“But My Lady, the temptation was too great.”

“To get the jump on me?” she glowered backwards at him.

Chat grinned, “Absolutely. Pouncing is a cat thing. I’m afraid it is likely a side-effect of the miraculous.”

“That excuse is getting old,” she rolled her eyes and huffed. Adrien had been milking the ‘cat tendencies’ lately. Not that it wasn’t true, but he didn’t always have to point it out or act on them, did he?

“It is the truth,” he whined as he set her down on the roof. Her feet touched down, but he didn’t let go. Instead, he nuzzled his cheek against the top of her head, “Your hair is so warm.” He began to emit a purring sound and vibrated against her back.

She decided to just ignore it and try a direct approach, “Chat?”

“Yes?” he hummed happily.

“I do realize your tendencies are magnified, but you are going to have to try to reel it in. We’re going to be late.”

“But you’re my best friend, M, and you promised you’d help”

“It’s only been like two days.”

“Six! We were late to the café after the last akuma.”

Chat and Ladybug had a bit of a tradition, for the last few months, to go to the roof of a nearby building and visit after akuma attacks. It gave them a chance to wind down in their superhero state. It might not sound like it was a big deal, but it made a world of difference getting certain itches scratched. In Chat’s case, quite literally. His cat tendencies were so much more pronounced when transformed than normal and he was becoming addicted to Ladybug’s ability to help him ease some of the tension. Head scratches were like heaven.

Ladybug had tried saying ‘just detransform’ and he tried to explain to her that it wasn’t like that. He hated the itch, but it was worth the irritation because getting that itch scratched was _sooo_ worth it. The same as getting petted while he purred happily; getting a massage as himself, even by a professional, couldn’t compare to how it felt to have Ladybug run her fingers along his tight muscles. It was like night and day difference. He tried to explain it to her, but she didn’t understand.

He pouted and his ears drooped, “I’m dying here!”

“All right, but only for a moment, Chaton,” she pointed a finger at him in warning, “Come here.”

A brilliant grin broke out across his face as he leaned in to her touch. If he could see her face, he’d see that Ladybug wore a matching one. Ladybug ran her fingers through his hair and he immediately began purring, only louder and much more violently this time. His eyes rolled back as his eyelids drooped. Oh, man, had he needed this.

Ladybug reveled in the opportunity to see him lose his mind like this, too. She was just worried they’d be late; it wasn’t that she didn’t want to make him feel good. His fragile, child-like state always made her feel supremely protective of him and fed her desire to prolong their visits. This time, however, she couldn’t let herself lose track of time.

“Really, though, we have to go,” she chuckled as he let out a long, relaxed sigh.

“Do we have to?”

“YES!” Ladybug exclaimed. Chat pouted when she pulled her hand away. “Don’t you give me that look. This is for Nino and Alya.”

Chat sat up and grinned, “I know. I’m just teasing.” He offered her a hand to help her up. “We can always continue this later,” he crooned with waggle of his eyebrows.

Ladybug flushed, but rolled her eyes as she bopped his nose, “Come on.”

* * *

Nino waited nervously at the back of the hotel.

“Nino!” Marlena Cesaire greeted, “Are you ready to get this started?”

“Of course, ma’am,” he nodded.

“I’ll have my boys bring everything out.”

“I’ve got my brother’s van so I’m ready,” Nino said with a quick reach into his pocket. He retrieved the keys and dangled them in her view.

“Excellent!”

Marlena disappeared back into the hotel and Nino glanced around nervously. It was 11:50 am and Alya should be here any minute. He just hoped and prayed that Marlena didn’t see her when she got here.

Two burly men appeared at the double door back entrance with two big tubs, one balanced on the other, between them.

“Is this everything?” Nino asked as they loaded it into the back.

“Sure is. Although, Marlena said to go ahead and head over without her. She’ll be on her way when she’s done here.” The two guys started to head back into the building.

 _Perfect._ “Oh, yeah, sure. Thanks!” Nino called after.

He hopped into the van and checked his watch. Then he spied Alya crossing the street not five minutes later.

“Alya!” Nino waved her down as he hopped out of the car, “Get in!”

Alya stared amusedly at the van, but didn’t argue as she hopped in the front seat. Nino wore a look of unconcealed panic, a nervous energy radiating off of him, as he settled into her seat. Call her curiosity piqued.

“Can you drive this thing?” she chuckled as she glanced over to him buckling his belt.

Nino glared, “I have my license, if that’s what you mean.”

“You and Adrien,” she muttered, “Ah, well, I’m not going to get my license anyway. I don’t need it.”

“Adrien doesn’t have one,” Nino pointed out. “You ready to go?”

Alya was surprised. With as much as Adrien complained about being cooped up, and lamented not having freedom, you’d think he’d have been the first in line to get a license when he turned eighteen.

“Where are we going?” she asked as she stared at the giant metal pots and propane burners in the back seat, “We’re not making anything illegal, are we?”

Nino burst out laughing, “NO! Hell, no. We might have illegally obtained items in the car, but we are _not_ making anything illegal.”

They pulled up to an unsuspecting concrete building in a very rundown part of the city. Alya glanced around to see if it was safe to get out. “Where are we?”

“It’s a seedier part of town,” Nino flipped his cap nervously, “But there’s a lot of good people out here, too. Help me unload?”

Alya agreed as she hopped out of the car. The first things they removed were the big tubs from the Grand Paris Hotel. Those were quickly followed by six pans of rolls, two giant steel pots, two propane burners, two tanks of propane, two folding tables, and four folding benches.  
”What are we doing? Having a picnic for an army?”

Nino glanced pointedly behind them and gestured with his chin, “You tell me.”

In the distance, as if crawling out of the woodwork, there were about a dozen people walking toward them. They were all shrouded in torn up linens, layers upon layers, and blankets pulled around them. One lady had a dog tucked under her arm.

“Wait,” she looked down at the tubs, “Those are from mom’s kitchen.”

“She’ll be here in a bit.”

“No way, Nino. No way!!” Alya’s eyes lit up and she grinned, “You’re doing it? Feeding the hungry all the wasted food maman has to throw away?”

He nodded, “I thought it was ridiculous they threw all that food away at the end of the day. This is like three days worth of food scraps.”

Alya opened up the tubs. The first tub was full of broth, vegetables, and spices all prepackaged to make a chicken noodle soup. The other had some cream, leaks, and potatoes for a potato soup.

“This is unreal! Why didn’t you want Marinette and Adrien to help out?”

“I don’t want them to get in trouble, babe. We could be in some deep shit if someone sees us.”

As if on cue, she saw her mother’s car pull up. Marlena Cesaire stepped out of the car, fuming, “Young man, you have a lot of explaining to do. Alya, go home!”  
”She wanted to help.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Alya stood her ground, “You’re here.”

“I’m an adult and I’m making my own decisions.”

“I’m an adult, too,” Alya declared, “I’ll be eighteen in two months.”

“I’m calling your father,” Marlena said as she walked off with the phone clutched to her ear.

While Marlena stepped away to talk, the groups of people who had come to observe their activity disappeared.

“Cops!” they yelled.

About that time, two police cars and a black sedan pulled up. Marlena Cesaire’s face drained of all color. The mayor stepped out of his car and pointed to her, “You have a lot of explaining to do, Madame Cesaire. I’ll expect your resignation on my desk this afternoon.”

“NO!” Alya exclaimed, “You can’t fire her. It’s not even her idea.”

“It was mine,” Nino admitted.

“I don’t care whose idea it was,” the Mayor erupted, “I will put a stop to this if it’s the last thing I—“

“Are we late?”

The entire group of people turned their heads towards the sound. There, standing on the top of Chris Lahiffe’s van, was Ladybug and Chat Noir.

“Dooo—id you know about this?” the Mayor gestured to the supplies to feed the hungry.

“Of course!” Ladybug smiled, “And I can’t thank you enough for donating all of the, otherwise wasted, food from your hotel. It is such a kind gesture, especially at Christmas.”

“Yes, Mayor Bourgeois, it is a pawsitively meowrvelous idea,” Chat nodded.

Nino coughed to cover his laugh into his fist. He wasn’t going to go to jail and the Mayor looked like a swollen hop-toad. He wore an expression of confused rage; still puffy and red in the cheeks, but perplexed through the eyes.

“Uh, yes, undoubtedly,” he nodded and looked back at the police officers who accompanied him, “I suppose we should get back to the office.”

“Yes, sir,” they chorused.

By the time the police cars had driven out of sight, the rest of the group let out a heavy sigh. The people who had scurried off in a fright were back to watch the cooking commence. They settled around the perimeter and chatted quietly to themselves. A few were making a big fuss about their new guests, as was Alya.

“Ladybug!!” Alya exclaimed excitedly, “You have no idea how much we owe you. Thank you!”

Chat cleared his throat, “Of course, I did nothing…”

“You, too, Chat Noir!” she exclaimed with a squeal and pulled out her phone, “Nino, this is like the best day ever.”

Alya’s mother returned to stand by her daughter’s side. She threw an arm over her shoulders and one over Nino’s, pulling him to her. “You know what? I’m proud of you both. I’m sorry I was so upset, earlier. I was just afraid for you, Alya.”

“I know, maman, but I’m not a little girl anymore.”

“I know,” Marlena leaned her head on top of Alya’s, “This is all so hard for me.”

“Me, too,” Chat added. The group turned around just in time to see him sniffle.

Ladybug moseyed over to where he was standing. They typically avoided any sort of affection in the presence of citizens, especially Alya, but she couldn’t resist. She knew he was a softie and loved it. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder and squeezed comfortingly, “You’re such a sap.”

He turned around to face away from the other three and hissed, “Shhh, you’re going to ruin my image here, bug.”

“Ha!” she snorted, “No one could tarnish your image if they wanted to, Chaton.”

***

That evening, they’d fed forty-eight people, six cats, four dogs, and themselves. Everyone looked around the table, once they’d finally finished serving the hungry, and shared knowing glances as they shared a meal. It didn’t matter if you were a superhero, or a citizen, this was about people and comfort. They’d just brought a little joy to those who likely had few opportunities to experience it. Humbled didn’t even begin to cover it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So dialogue heavy. Holy smokes!
> 
> Thanks for reading. :)


	5. Day 5: White Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DREAMING of a White Christmas...and other things...

“I wish it would snow,” Mylene sighed as she stared out of the window.

The rest of the class shared her sentiment. The sky had been gray all yesterday afternoon, and all morning, and as they were going into the afternoon. It looked like the clouds wanted to snow, but they just wouldn’t.

“It’s supposed to snow later this week,” Alya’s lips thinned as she followed Mylene’s gaze out the window. The sky was so dark. Surely the forecast had to be wrong and it would snow today.

“It’s torture to sit in a classroom when it so bleak outside,” Rose sighed dramatically.

Mme. Bustier entered the classroom and glanced around at her glum students, “Where’s the Christmas cheer we started off with last week?”

Then all glanced around the room at each other and shrugged.

“Are you all SAD?”

There were a lot of head shakes. They wouldn’t call it ‘sad’ per say.

“No? Are you sure?” Mme. Bustier pulled up a visual on the screen in the front of the room, “Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, is a sort of seasonal depression that is most prominent during the winter months. Are you sure you’re not SAD?”

A flurry of whispers traveled through the room and their eyes widened. Yes, actually, perhaps some of them were SAD, after all, or maybe just bummed about the lack of snow. Either way, Marinette refused to fall into their hum-drum mood.

“I’m not!” Marinette squeaked happily, “I’m excited, actually. Alya said it’s going to snow later this week. The clouds are kind of calming, don’t you think? I can wait a couple days.”

About that time, Adrien and Nino both turned around in their seats to stare at her, Alya shifted to her side, and they all had the same expression of ‘you have got to be kidding me.’

“Doesn’t anyone else feel that way?” She shrunk back in her seat, her energy instantly weakening.

To her immense surprise, it was Adrien who snorted cynically, “No.”

Marinette frowned and slid down under her desk a little, determined to help make everyone feel better. She would, if it was the last thing she did. They couldn’t ALL have Seasonal Affective Disorder. Her friends would enjoy the holiday season if it was the last thing she did.

She glanced over at Alya who grinned, “I’m excited, too. S.A.D. ain’t got nothing on me, girl.”

Nino grinned and tipped his head with a smile saying ‘don’t worry about me.’

Adrien didn’t move and Marinette’s frown deepened. Poor Adrien. If he wasn’t full of Christmas cheer she was going to help him get into the mood.

Marinette grinned mischievously and leaned forward. Her fingers slid up his neck and into his hair before ruffling it lightly and scratching his scalp.

Adrien shivered when he felt her fingers glide up the back of his head.

“Cheer up, gloomy gus!” Marinette grinned at him as he gave her his best ‘unimpressed’ face. It was weak.

Adrien ran his fingers back through his hair and turned back to face the front of the classroom with a ‘harrumph.’

Marinette pursed her lips in annoyance. Fine, if that’s how he wanted to play it. She’d just have to try harder.

The day went by super slowly. Marinette fidgeted in her seat as she tried to figure out ways to get her kitty out of his funk. She drew some sketches of accessories for tonight. It wouldn’t be hard, really.

“What are you doing for lunch?” Alya whispered over to her.

“No idea.” Marinette leaned over her desk and tapped Adrien on the shoulder. He reluctantly turned to face her, hesitance clear on his face, “What are you doing for lunch?”

Adrien shrugged, “Nathalie packed me one.”

Marinette snorted and blew her bangs out of her face. That meant ‘nothing’ from Adrien. She leaned over to Nino, “Hey, pssst, Nino.”

Nino turned and looked up to Alya and Marinette, “Yeah?”

Alya leaned forward to whisper to him so Marinette wouldn’t get in trouble, “What are you doing for lunch today?”

“Uh…” Nino shrugged and glanced over to Adrien. Adrien shook his head. “Nothing that I know of.”

“Let’s go back to my place!” Marinette exclaimed, a little too loudly.

“Quiet, Marinette!” Mme. Mendeleiv chastised, “Unless you know how to teach this lecture, I have to ask you to pay attention.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she frowned, but repeated, “My house.”

Half an hour later, they dismissed classes for lunch. Marinette gleefully exclaimed, “My house!” as they ran down the stairs.

Adrien scratched his head and smirked after her. Marinette was something else. Her energy was contagious, even though he really wasn’t feeling it. There just wasn’t a whole lot for him to look forward to. This time of year hurt the most. The contrast between everyone’s happiness, and the lack of his own, caused his own physical and emotional neglect to be more pronounced. It sucked.

As he was musing, following his friends, he hadn’t been paying attention to anything, but his feet moving on the sidewalk. Suddenly, there an arm slid through his own. His head jerked up and his eyes met the smiling ones of one Marinette Dupain-Cheng. He managed a half smile, even though he didn’t feel it.

“You’re awfully quiet,” she mused as she stared at their other two friends chatting quietly ahead.

He reached up with his opposite arm to clasp her hand, “Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of this time of year.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. He knew, this answer was just easier. Marinette didn’t believe it for a second.

“We’ll come back to that,” she grinned and poked his nose, “You’re going to need more than that.” She nodded down to his sack lunch that Nathalie had the chef pack for him. In it were an apple, a salad, a chicken breast, and a bottle of water.

He playfully glared, “You realize I’m on a diet, right?”

“Yes,” she nodded vigorously, “I also know how many calories you burn through in a day, especially with your extracurricular activities, so I really do insist. Springerles? Cinnamon rolls? Danishes? Fudge?” She could almost see Adrien’s eyes roll back into his head when she said fudge, “FUDGE! Oh, I know how much you love fudge. Let’s go get you some.”

When they got to Marinette’s parents house he grimaced at the mistletoe hanging there. Would it be disingenuous to kiss Marinette under the guise of a mystical plant when he actually wanted it to mean something to her, too?

He watched as Alya gleefully hopped beneath the cluster of parasitic plant and grinned victoriously at Nino. Nino was more than happy to fulfill her wish.

Marinette turned to look at Adrien, as he sluggishly made his way towards the entrance. It was hanging right there in the middle, glaring at him, daring him to step up and follow tradition. If he didn’t, he’d be a party pooper and he hated wet blankets. He really didn’t want to be one.

Sensing his trepidation, she grabbed his hand and squeezed it, pulling him after her, “If you walk around the side you won’t get caught beneath it. Maman put it up mostly for papa, because he’s so big that he can’t avoid it.” Marinette was thoroughly tickled with her mother’s antics.

That gave Adrien an idea.

 _That’s it._   Adrien decided to take it out of his own hands. He deliberately stood beneath the ornament and elatedly smiled at Marinette. Her lips popped open slightly before a smirk made its way there.

“You silly kitty,” she purred quietly.

Adrien’s eyes widened and he gulped. He might not have thought this through. Perhaps he had made a strategic error. Abort. Abort. Abort? Can you abort mistletoe tradition? Oops.

“Did you want a kiss, Adrien?” she asked sincerely. He cleared his throat nervously, his eyes darting anywhere, but her. Yes, yes he did, but he was loathed to say it. “Come here.”

He looked down at her as she pressed herself closer to him. Was the air thicker all of a sudden?

“You have to lean down. I can’t reach you,” she grinned, “Unless…” She lifted his hand, the one that was still clutched in her own, and started to move it to her lips. It was much like the way he’d kissed her hand dozens of times.

That was not how this was supposed to work. His brows furrowed as he pulled his hand out of hers, “That’s more _my_ style, don’t you think?”

Marinette blushed, “Then you have to help me out here.”

He leaned forward then and didn’t even think as he placed a chaste peck on her lips. It happened faster than the blink of an eye, and yet, it left them both staring at each other, stock still, and reeling.

Both of their hands went to their lips as they giggled nervously.

Marinette broke out of her trance first and snuck past him to go get lunch ready, “Shall we?”

He just stood in the open door staring after her in silence. He’d just kissed Marinette, Ladybug, and this was one he could remember. Well, now he knew. He was in deep, _deep_ trouble.

* * *

 

Marinette rolled her eyes as Alya doggedly chased her down, “It was nothing, Alya. It was just a kiss. He was standing underneath the mistletoe and that’s what you do. It’s tradition!” she drawled out to accentuate the obviousness of it.

“Don’t you ‘nothing’ me, girl, I saw that kiss,” Alya whispered frantically in the hall, “Mistletoe kisses are cute; like on the cheek, or on the chin, or the forehead, the ears, but that kiss? On the lips? Mmmp-hmm, nope. That was definitely a kiss-kiss. You were testing each other out. So…what’s the verdict? Adrien looked pretty convinced, honey, so don’t you dare try to pretend I’m not right.”

“Kiss-kiss for real-real? Come on, Alya, move out of the way. I have to pee.”

Alya stepped partially in her way, just to slow her down, “We’re not done with this conversation, Mari-someday-Agreste.”

Marinette rolled her eyes and blushed, “You’re making a mountain out of a molehill.”

“A tempest out of a teapot,” Alya mimicked her propensity for idioms in a patronizing tone, “Don’t. Don’t do this, Marinette. Let yourself like him, let him like you, and stop this willful ignorance. I beg of you. You’ve got him, I saw that spark between you. Playing dumb, or hard to get, is just going to push him away.”

Marinette frowned and nodded, “I’ll think about what you said, Alya, now can I go pee?”

“Sure,” Alya waved her off, “Go, go. Shoo!”

Marinette closed the bathroom door with a sigh and leaned against the wall. In the mirror, her haunted visage stared back. As if Adrien being in a sour mood wasn’t enough. Now she had to deal with this kind of pressure. Well, that settled it. Marinette wanted to bring Adrien the joyful exuberance of Christmas and to see his face light up. If that meant braving her fears of failure, fighting against the intimidating unknown, and allowing herself to hope for something more, then so be it. She couldn’t expect him to be open to happiness if she wouldn’t allow herself to do the same.

“You’ve got this, Marinette,” she sighed. She’d have to.

* * *

Adrien walked back to school with a little skip in his step; Marinette on his mind and her hand in his own. He couldn’t allow himself to think about it.

She’d walked them all over her house, showing them all their family Christmas history and traditions. Somehow he got a feeling she was doing it for him as she delivered the open invite to join in on their festivities; Saturday slumber parties, in pajamas, in front of the television, drinking cider or eggnog, and playing board games. Marinette was particularly fond of basic card games; especially, cribbage. They learned new games now and again, too, with their book of card games by Edmond Hoyle.

He went over the visions her narrations brought to his mind and could easily envision him right there with them, sitting in his stockings and flannels, with no rush to be anywhere, but right there. It felt so warm and inviting, even if it would likely never happen.

They walked quietly, side by side, all the way back to school. They parted when Adrien headed to fencing practice.

An unintentional smile broke out across his face, and brightened still, as his phone alerted him of a text.

**Marinette: I mean it! Come over some Saturday. It would be fun.**

**Marinette: Maman and Papa say ‘open invitation’ so no excuses! :P**

Adrien chuckled. Marinette knew him all too well. That both terrified him and brought him immense joy.

She was adorable in her enthusiasm; so much so, that he could see himself loving the holidays just for her. Marinette’s face lit up at each shiny silver bell or glistening ornament and it was infectious; just like her tinkling laughter and sparkling eyes.

His eyes widened. _When did this happen?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Here's to hoping the next chapter is better than this one. I was struggling today.  
> Have a wonderful day/night everybody! :)


	6. Day 6: Hark, The Herald Angels Sing

Marinette noticed the change in Adrien’s mood Tuesday morning immediately. It was a lot less somber and more optimistic than yesterday. He even smiled in his morning text greeting.

Marinette knew it wasn’t meant to last when Adrien checked his text messages between classes. From across the hall, she could see his shoulders slouch and his chin drop dismally. Bad news.

Throughout the next period he was utterly dismal. He didn’t talk to Nino, gave a limp wave, sans smile, to Marinette when she entered the classroom, and his mood was a complete 180 from that morning. Someone had thoroughly pissed in Adrien’s cheerios and Marinette was determined to figure out how and why. Maybe she could help?

The lunch bell rang and she stood with purpose. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and marched up to him, “Are you all right? You look kind of blue.”

Adrien shook his head, blinking away the fog from his eyes, and glanced up at her. He plastered on the best fake smile he could muster and sighed, “Yeah, no, I’m fine. It’s just my dad’s going to be going out of town for a while. No big deal.” He shrugged as if to make it all go away.

Marinette saw the shrug and she could sense how much effort it took out of him to do it. He cared a whole awful lot. That shrug looked like it weighed a thousand pounds and threatened to break his back. “You don’t seem fine,” she whispered with concern.

“We were supposed to decorate the tree today, but whatever. It is how it is, I suppose. I should be used to it by now, but sometimes I just wish it would be different, you know?”

Marinette reached out to touch his wrist, lowering her voice, “You could always visit me if you get bored.”

Adrien smirked, “What if I just want to?”

“That, too,” she glanced down at her shoes and shifted bashfully. “If it makes you feel better.”

“I really don’t think I should leave home, though,” he frowned, “Nathalie might be less strict, but she’s really finicky when father is out of town. He rarely ever leaves the house, so when he travels she’s always checking in on me. I can’t really sneak out.”

“Would she be opposed if some friends crashed your house?”

Adrien shifted skeptically and sighed, “I don’t know.” He paused for a moment in deep thought, chewing on his lip, before he righted himself. Marinette knew he’d come to a decision, “You know what? Yeah. I think you, Alya, and Nino should all come hang out. Why should I ask father if he’s not even going to be there.”

“What about Nathalie?”

“Nathalie will get over it. What is she going to do? Ground me?” he huffed, “I shouldn’t have to miss out just because my father decides to, right?”

“Right,” she grinned. This was definitely out of character for Adrien and she couldn’t help, but think part of this rebellious change of heart was her bad influence. Marinette couldn’t be happier. “Worse case scenario is he comes home.”

They shared a delightfully mischievous moment before Adrien grinned, “This is my last year of Christmas with my friends. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. I’m sure Nathalie won’t rat me out because that would just make her job harder.”

“She’s a sympathizer then?”

“More like a neutral party who would rather not be involved.”

Marinette held her thumb up, “Go, Nathalie.”

Adrien threw an arm around her shoulder and steered them towards the courtyard for lunch, “And Arthur. I’m sure he’ll give us all a ride. Now let’s go eat.”

His salty mood had dissipated and it was as if that morning’s bad news hadn’t even happened. Adrien even managed to crack and smile and laugh a lunch, much to the surprise of their other friends.

Nino threw Marinette a questioning glance to which she nodded. His fingertips came up to his chin and dropped it forward to sign, ‘Thank you.’

Marinette bowed her head and made a fist under her chin. She pushed it down and forward slightly to say, ‘you’re welcome’ and Nino smirked. One thing he and Marinette had between them, to the occasional vexation of Alya, was LSF. Adrien didn’t even notice the times they conversed so they weren’t sure if he knew it or not, but Nino and Marinette only rarely conversed silently. There wasn’t usually any need.

Their limited knowledge of LSF was just a vestige from maternelle. Their teacher was deaf and taught them all basic sign throughout the year. They had discussed that perhaps they had retained it because of their age or possibly because she’d been their favorite. It had just sort of stuck, regardless of reason.

* * *

Marinette ran home, as fast as she could, while her friends all stood around talking after school. “It’ll just be a moment,” she’d called over her shoulder. She ran up the stairs to her house, grabbed some cookies for Tikki just in case, and high-tailed it back to her friends.

They were all chatting amiably when she arrived. They stared at her bemusedly in her winded state.

“You going to live there, girl?” Alya asked with a smirk.

“Shut. It. You,” Marinette gasped and nodded, “I’ll be fine.”

Adrien found it extremely amusing to see her so tired. He didn’t feel so bad about his own lack of stamina without the miraculous assist. Adrien was a gifted athlete, don’t get him wrong, but the miraculous supplied such a boon of strength and energy that his normal state couldn’t compare. Not even after he’d picked up some muscle memory. It still wasn’t the same. Apparently, it worked that way for Marinette, too.

“Running is not easy, is it Mariboo?”

She peeked up to glare at him, “Don’t call me Mariboo.”

“Yeah, dude, Mariboo sounds like caribou. It’s like you just called her a deer or a cow or something.”

Marinette sighed, “Thanks for that, Nino.”

“Are we going to go or not, guys?” Alya called as Arthur opened the door to the sedan, “I don’t know about you, but I’m freezing.”

Adrien’s house was intimidating as they drove up to the front. Marinette only thought so because normally she was in a red super suit and didn’t feel nearly as exposed. This going in the ‘traditional’ way was super intimidating.

Adrien stepped out of the car and beckoned them to follow. Nathalie met them in the entrance.

“Adrien, what is the meaning of this? You know your father isn’t home.”

“I am having a few friends over in his absence,” Adrien gestured to his friends, “Unless father would like to return and ask them to leave.”

Nathalie pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, but she had to acknowledge that Adrien had a point, “Fine. Just keep the noise down and I’ll be in to check periodically, unannounced.” She glanced between Alya and Nino.  
”Thanks, Nathalie!” Adrien beamed.

In his room, Adrien was back to a bit of a funk. Nino, Alya, and Marinette played his video games while he sat on his bed and watched.

“Come on over and play, dude!” Nino called.

“Yeah, I will. I’m not really in the mood to play video games right now.”

“You sick?”

“No,” Adrien sighed, “I don’t know.”

Marinette took that as her cue to go talk to him. She set her controller on the table and walked over.

“You’re supposed to be having fun,” she said, “If you aren’t then we’re failing at our job. We’re here for you, you know.”

He nodded, “I know.”

Marinette walked to the head of his bed and grabbed a pillow, “Then cheer…UP!” she shouted as she smacked him in the face with a pillow.

At first, Adrien just stared at her in shock. She was afraid he’d get mad and this had been a really dumb thing to do, but then his lips quirked up into a malevolent smile and he growled, “You’re going to regret that, Dupain-Cheng.”

“Oh shit!” she yelled as she saw him grab his own pillow and leap after her.

Alya and Nino ran to get their own pillows, watching their friends chase each other around the room.

“I’m on Adrien’s team,” Alya grinned.

Nino shrugged, “That is fine by me.”

Adrien pounced on Marinette with a rather well placed swing of his pillow, sending her toppling over the back of his couch to land on the cushions, and Nino followed up with a heavy swing of his own right against Adrien’s back. He tumbled the way of Marinette, sprawling on top of her, breathless.

He stared at her in shock, panting and still. “Sorry. Nino. He hit me and—“

Marinette grinned, pushed her pillow in his face, and flipped them over. “AMBUSH!” she yelled as she held him pinned in place with her knees, tickling his sides mercilessly as he squirmed beneath her.

“Sto-st-st-sto-stop!!” he cried, “Nooo! It tickles!”

Nino hurdled the couch and joined in, straddling his knees and tickling his feet.

“Et tu, Nino!” Adrien squealed as he tried to break free. He was thoroughly trapped by the tickling tag-team.

Alya, not to be outdone, came flying in, “I’m here to save the day.” She quickly pulled Marinette off of his lap and held her arms immobile behind her. Adrien grabbed Nino around the middle and restrained him.

“Tickling stops here,” Adrien gasped, “Not fair.”

“Truce?” Nino asked Marinette.

Marinette, still trying to catch her breath, nodded.

“Truce,” Alya agreed on behalf of Adrien. She was quickly given a dirty look.

“You realize they were beating up me, right?”

“I recorded it all,” she smirked and held up her hand, “So don’t you worry your pretty little head.”

Adrien groaned and flopped backwards on the couch. Marinette chuckled and walked over to sit next to Nino. She lifted Adrien’s legs into her lap and let his feet settle in Nino’s.

“This has been fun,” Alya announced into the quiet. “But I think I should be heading home soon. Dinner is served at 6:00 and it’s getting late.”

“She’s right,” Nino nodded, “I think I need to head home, too. Marinette?”

She glanced over at Adrien, who was wearing a frown, but nodded. She could always come check on him later.

“Probably should go home for a while,” she said with a pointed look in his direction. It was her silent communication that she’d be back if he needed her to. She just hoped he wouldn’t suffer in silence, as he was known to do, and ask her to come over if he got lonely.

“Okay,” he lifted his legs, “It has been fun.”

Nino stood and walked Alya to the door to gather her stuff. Adrien got really quiet as they all prepared to leave and she rolled her eyes.

Marinette sent a sidelong glance at Adrien, “You realize I have a phone, right?”

“Yes,” he muttered, but still didn’t meet her eyes.

“Then use it…if you want,” her tone softened as she turned to look at him earnestly now, “Don’t over-think it. Send me the text, or call, or whatever.”

He huffed, “Sure.”

Marinette glanced over at their friends, completely oblivious and in their own world, before she pounced on his chest. Adrien puffed out a breath as it was knocked out of him, “I’m serious, kitty. If you’re struggling tomorrow, because you were too stubborn, I’m going to make you regret it.” She accentuated her point with a hard finger to his chest. “Got it?”

He grinned at her. Somehow, Marinette had this way of being adorable when she was trying to be intimidating. It pissed her off that he found her endearing when she was particularly passionate, like this. “I’ve got it.”

She pouted as she got up. One downside of her knowing Chat and Adrien were one and the same was his ability to be irritating as hell while simultaneously alluring. Sometimes he made her question whether or not she was a masochist.

“You okay there?” he smirked as she crossed her arms.

“I’m all right. I just hope you are,” she stuck her tongue out at him and he grinned. It made her smile back.

“Go home, Marinette. I won’t hesitate, okay?”

She nodded, “All right. I’ll see you later.”

Marinette started to walk off when he threw his arms around her shoulders, “Thanks.”

She tapped his hands where they laid against her shoulders and nodded, “You’re welcome.”

* * *

**Marinette was lying in her bed, just before going to sleep, when a text appeared.**

**Adrien: Do you think you’d be able to stay over tomorrow? It’s the last day before break.**

**Marinette: Are you okay? Do I need to come over?**

**Adrien: I’m fine, Marinette. I had a lot of fun today.**

**Marinette: Alya and Nino, too?**

Was it wrong that Marinette hoped he’d say no? That he’d want her to come over and spend some time alone? They had alone time as Chat and Ladybug, but she really wanted to know what it would be like to have some alone time as Adrien and Marinette.

**Adrien: Of course!**

Adrien glanced over to his window guiltily. He had a lot of alone time with Ladybug, sure, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t find the idea of cuddling up in a fluffy blanket with Marinette, in front of a fire with her, attractive. He didn’t want to over step his bounds, though. If it was meant to be they’d get there. He just hoped he had the wisdom to know when they were at that point, if they ever got there, and the patience to wait for it.

**Marinette: I’ll ask! Good night, Adrien.**

**Adrien: Good night, Marinette.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some fluff for the day!
> 
> Oh, and don't look now, but this was a setup. :)


	7. Day 7: The Christmas Song

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When the cat is away the mice will play...and play hard.

**DING**

Marinette rolled over to blearily grab for her phone, her alarm hadn’t even gone off yet, and she found a message that read:

**Adrien: I asked Nino last night. Act surprised.**

Followed by a picture of a smiling Adrien with a thumbs up. It was his morning selfie. Oh, how she envied his ability to look put together when he first wakes up.

**Marinette: K.**

She flopped back and hoped that would appease Starshine until she could manage to get some semblance of consciousness.

**Adrien: Oh, God, did I wake you up? I’m so sorry, Marinette!**

**Adrien: You can go back to sleep. I just thought you should know.**

**Adrien: Are you mad at me?**

Marinette heard the multiple message notifications dinging on her phone. She rolled over to check and see what he wanted. She unlocked her phone just as a new message came in. She opened it first and saw a horribly distraught looking Adrien; he was frowning and unhappy.

Oh, shit! _I’m up. I’m up. I’m up. What’s wrong?!_ She sat up in bed then and rubbed her eyes.

She went back to the first unopened message and pursed her lips. That cat. She’d kill him.

**Marinette: Yes, you woke me up. No, I wasn’t mad. I WAS trying to go back to sleep until you sent me all these messages, you goof.**

**Adrien: Can I call you?**

Marinette yawned and let out a groan. She was already awake.

**Marinette: Sure.**

Her phone immediately began ringing and she grinned.

“Good morning, Chaton.”

“Good morning, my gorgeous lady,” he cooed, “I just thought it would be easier to ask Nino if you all wanted to hang out tonight because I didn’t want to put you in an uncomfortable spot with Alya. I know she’s getting all suspicious about us hanging out and stuff.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, “I don’t care. She can be suspicious. I will totally act surprised, though. No worries!”

“I’m not worried!” he exclaimed, “I just thought you might be. I thought this might be simpler.”

“It’s fine, Adrien,” she grinned, “It probably is simpler as far as they are concerned.” She couldn’t help the way he was unnecessarily concerned for her feelings. It was cute.

“Okay. Good. I was just making sure.”

“Is that all? Because I’ll see you at school in like an hour.”

“Yeah, sure, that’s everything. See you at school.”

“Talk to you later, Adrien.”

“See you, Marinette.”

Marinette hopped out of bed and glared at her clock. She was up early enough to get a shower in, thanks to Adrien, so he had unintentionally done her a solid. He was considerate, and helpful, even when he was ignorant. How did he do that?

“Tikki!” Marinette called for her kwami friend, “I’m going to go take a shower. We’re going to spend the night at Adrien’s house. Don’t let me forget to grab cookies this time.”

“So you don’t have to run home like the last time?”

“Exactly,” she blushed in embarrassment, “That was not pleasant.”

“I’ll remind you. At least we know we’re going to Adrien’s beforehand this time.”

“Of course,” Marinette grinned, “Always good to be prepared.”

When she arrived to school, Nino and Alya were discussing something very animatedly.

“Girl, you’re never going to guess!” Alya pounced on her as she was coming up the stairs, “Guess what Nino just told me.”

“He proposed and you all are getting married at the courthouse this weekend.”

Marinette snickered at the flushing embarrassment on both of her friends’ faces.

Alya shook her head and scoffed, “No. Better!”

“Better than marrying someone you love?”

“Gosh dang it, Alya,” Nino cut Alya off before she could give Marinette any more opportunity to embarrass them, “Adrien asked if we want to hang out at his house tonight.”

“All night,” Alya waggled her eyebrows.

“Honestly? I had no idea. That’s great!” Marinette widened her eyes to try and appear surprised, but Alya wasn’t buying it.

“Okay, what’s going on with you, girl?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she had to figure out a way to play this off. Nonchalance, yes, that’s what she’d do. “It will be fun, don’t get me wrong, but I think you’re exaggerating the excitement just a little. Sleeping. That’s what we’re doing.”

Alya took one glance at Nino, grabbed Marinette’s arm, and pulled her off to behind the stairs, “Okay, girl, spill. Is there something going on between you and Adrien? Are you fighting? Where did my ‘Adrien obsessed’ girl go? You’ve been different for a while now.”

“I grew up,” she shrugged, “We’re friends now. I really like Adrien…as a person.” _And a partner._

“Oh,” Alya grinned, “Good for you! I’m glad. That’s healthy. Well then, I guess we can go back to the boys. I’m excited. Tonight is going to be awesome!”

Marinette snorted to herself. If only Alya knew the half of it.

* * *

The house was especially dreary today as they walked in to the front room. Marinette had never realized how much warmth Nathalie supplied. She never seemed like a very warm person, and yet, the contrast between her presence and absence was striking. The way their footsteps echoed in the silence was unnerving.

“Whoa, dude, your house is creepy.”

“Tell me about it,” Adrien agreed.

They walked up to Adrien’s room to drop off all of their stuff before Adrien hopped excitedly, “Are you guys hungry? Want to play games?”  
”My, you’re in a good mood,” Alya grinned. It was like night and day difference from yesterday.

“I’ve never had anyone spend the night, ever,” Adrien grinned, “Nathalie isn’t even here. It’s just us and the house staff…so…what do you guys want to do?”

Nino’s eyes sparkled.

That was the innocent question that sparked the frenzied running through the house, manic cackles of laughter abounding, as they played a very animated game of tag.

Nino stood on the lower landing of the stair case and glanced around the house. He caught Adrien’s gaze at the bottom of the stairs as he came running into view, “Dude, you have no idea how much I’ve always wanted to do this.” With that, he tossed his leg over the wide banister, and slid to the ground.

Adrien chuckled, “You’d be shocked how many times I have done just that.” Then he squared his shoulders proudly, “I have yet to be caught.”

Alya appeared then and scoffed, “He means ‘confronted.’ We all know his daddy’s got cameras all over this place.”

Adrien frowned, “Yeah, well. Oh, that reminds me, don’t let me forget to delete all the security footage before he gets home.”

“Sure thing, dude!” Nino gave a thumbs up.

“Hey, guys, where’s Marinette?” Alya asked. Marinette had been the last one to be ‘it’ in tag, and yet, they hadn’t seen her in quite a while.

“No way,” Nino’s jaw dropped and he glanced around the room. The other two stared at him blankly.

“What?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know! Especially you Alya?!” Nino exclaimed.

“I don’t,” she insisted.

Nino smirked, “This game of tag has just turned into a game of sardines. Not to spook anyone, but last one to find her has to be first to hide. So let’s go, go, go!”

Alya darted off to look for Marinette. Adrien just stood there perplexed.

“Sardines? I don’t get it…”

“It’s a game from like...elementary?” Nino chuckled to himself. It had been a _long_ time since Marinette had played this disappearing act in favor of this particular game. It was sort of her ‘thing’ back in the day. “One person hides and then the rest of us have to go find them. If you find the person hiding you have to hide with them—touching. If you aren’t touching it doesn’t count. Only one person has to touch them, however, but the last person to touch her, or touch someone touching her, is it.”

“What if you find her, but can’t get to her, and someone else has to.”

“Well, you’re screwed, my man, because the first person to touch her, regardless of order of finding her, is safe. Period. Rules are rules.”

“Well crap!” Adrien ran off to go find Marinette. Nino cackled as he did the same. This would be the most epic game of sardines they’d ever played.

She was eventually spotted, hiding in the dumbwaiter next to the servant stairs outside of the kitchen. Only one person could fit IN the dumbwaiter so Adrien had to put one leg in and one leg out. Nino caught up to grab his wrist and end the game.

“You’re it, Alya!” they all called.

They each took turns from there; Alya, Nino, Alya again, then Adrien. Needless to say, Marinette kicked _ass_ at this game.

It was actually Adrien who proved to be the most difficult sardines round, however, when he decided to spiderman his way all the way to the top of his climbing wall. Marinette somehow managed to get up to grab his foot, and Alya with some coaxing from her friend that she’d be okay, so Nino had to be it.

“That was ridiculous, dude!” Nino huffed as his friends all came back down from the wall, out of breath.

“No kidding,” Adrien huffed, “Maybe I didn’t think that one through. I didn’t expect to be up there that long.”

“Me, neither,” Marinette grinned and held her fist up for a bump, “Great spot!”

“I hate you all,” Alya groaned as her knees continued to wobble and shake, “I’m afraid of heights, you jerk.”

Adrien tried to hide his amusement, but couldn’t, “Does this mean I won?”

“This means we’re not going to be able to top that and we’re done with sardines.” Nino’s brow rose as he gestured over to a still rattled Alya. Adrien had managed to ruin it, but he didn’t seem too upset, either.

* * *

The evening was full of more shenanigans. Alya discovered Adrien’s massive supply of foam nerf balls and declared one part of the house ‘mine and Nino’s’ territory, complete with his baseball cap for a flag. Marinette declared another part of the house as ‘Adrien’s and mine,’ and used the blue scarf she’d knitted him as the flag. With the ammunitions divided evenly, a game of capture the flag was afoot.

(Now, I’m sure I could explain in detail how this went down, but I’m sure you could guess.)

Adrien and Marinette were a formidable team in capture the flag. Alya found herself stepping around the staircase like she was testing for landmines. She was sure someone was going to hop out and send her back to start. If you got hit by a nerf ball you had to go tag your flag and start over. She’d spent most of the game just going back and forth.

Nino, however, did manage to sneak the back way into Adrien’s bedroom, where his flag was prominently displayed on his climbing wall. What Nino hadn’t anticipated was an ambush by Marinette, sitting in wait behind the skate ramp, ready to bring down a rain of nerf balls on his unsuspecting head.

“AHHH!!” he shouted as she pelted him with round yellow stingers, “Ouch, those really hurt!”

“Back to start!” she cheered. “Booyah! I got him, I got him, I got him,” she taunted. “I GOT NINO!” she shouted.

And who was to appear, but Adrien, wearing a Cheshire grin, and Nino’s ball cap, “And I got their flag.” He jumped down to the floor and threw it down on the couch, “We win!”

Marinette launched herself at him, clinging to him like a spider monkey. “We won, we won, we won!” she exclaimed. Marinette had the most competitive spirit Adrien had ever seen. Although, while she was clinging around his middle he had a funny feeling that he was still winning.

“Not fair!” a panting Alya appeared from the main entrance to his room, “Adrien’s got some inhuman dodging skills, I swear. He’s like part cat or something.”

Marinette glanced to Adrien, their eyes met and they busted up laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Alya glared.

“Nothing,” Marinette spluttered, “Nothing at all.”

“You guys are weird,” Alya announced. “Where’s Nino?”

“He had to go back to start,” Marinette smirked, “I bet he just found out that his hat is gone and we won.”

At about that time, Nino appeared at the door, “You have got to be kidding me. Come on, Alya, you let Adrien steal my hat?”

“You don’t understand,” her arms flew around, gesticulating for emphasis, “The boy’s got some moves.”

“Now what?” Adrien asked, glancing down at his watch. His eyes widened in surprise. Somehow, the day had completely passed them by and it was 10:30 PM, “Food?”

“FOOD!” they agreed in unison.

The chef didn’t mind a late request. He’d been enjoying having most of his day off. Late requests were not unusual with Adrien’s night-owl father.

“Movie?” Adrien asked as he set his tray of food on the coffee table.

They all nodded.

“Something Christmas!” Marinette squealed. There was a slight groan around the room, but they stopped as soon as they saw her deflate.

“Sure,” Adrien grinned, “Christmas it is.”

Marinette bounced excitedly in her seat, “Thank you, guys! The Family Stone! It’s my favorite.”

“Typical,” Alya smirked, “The Family Man is my favorite.”

“I’m just thankful none of you said ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ or we can’t be friends,” Nino groaned.

“I don’t know what my favorite is,” Adrien grimaced, “I don’t really watch them. I guess, I used to watch Home Alone with my mom when I was little. I don’t really remember it though. I never had time to just sit and watch movies, anyway.”

“That settles it,” Marinette reached over and grabbed his thigh, “It’s the start of ‘Adrien’s Christmas Movie Marathon’ time and we’re going to find your favorite one. Let’s start off easy then with a classic, Rudolph!”

“And if we don’t find a favorite?” he gulped. Her hand was like a coal burning through his flannel pajama pants.

“Then we’ll have to come over and do this again!” she insisted.

While the movie played, they devolved into idle chit-chat on top of the movie. Adrien didn’t mind. He was more interested in his friends’ company than the television anyhow. In fact, as he glanced around the room at the smiling faces of his friends, he just knew that this was a night he’d never forget. It was easy to say that, too, but he just knew, deep down in his heart, that this memory was here to stay.

Marinette suddenly spluttered and water came out of her nose. She started coughing, “Oh, my lord, Nino! I did not need to know that.”

“What? I missed it!” Adrien complained as his eyes darted from one to the other in confusion.

Alya shook her head, “No, no, no. You all can tarnish our golden child, but I will have no part of it. Uh-uh, no siree, not me.”

“It was Nino’s fault!” Marinette accused with a finger pointed in his direction.

Nino held a hand to his chest in his defense, “I was just stating a fact, okay?”

“Yeah, but really, Nino? Eww.”

“Now I really have to know,” Adrien whined. He climbed up onto his knees and leaned towards Nino, “Please!”

Nino huffed, “Ugh. Marinette said something about how she would be at home, probably watching Christmas movies, alone, if she wasn’t here. Then Alya said she’d rather be here than at home because her siblings were always getting into her stuff. I, uh…” he glanced around the room, “I said I prefer this than hearing my parents have sex.”

Adrien’s eyes widened, “Oh.”

There was a long pause, followed by a smack, “Ow, what the hell, Alya?!”

“Now see what you’ve done? You just broke him.”

“I’m not broken,” Adrien grumbled, “Sickened, maybe. For once, I think I’m thankful I’m not Nino.”

At that, Nino launched up and tackled Adrien to the floor to the sounds of laughter.

“Take it back, pretty boy,” he grinned.

“Never!”

Marinette came to his rescue, as any good partner would, and restrained Nino who slipped bonelessly to the floor.

“I think we’re all glad we’re not Nino after dark,” Alya chuckled.

Marinette ended up sprawled out on Adrien’s couch, since no one was sitting there, and absentmindedly found herself playing with Adrien’s hair. He leaned back into her hands and sighed.

Alya leaned back against Nino and pointed at Adrien, his eyes closed in relaxation, and then gestured to her own hair.

“Huh?”

“Your fingers, my hair, now,” she commanded. Nino didn’t argue.

There was a dinging of the clock in Adrien’s room that signaled it was eleven-thirty. Adrien’s eyes opened and he stood up, “Come on, guys, I have to show you something.”

The other three were almost asleep, but managed to break out of their fog at his sudden enthusiasm.

“What is it?” Marinette asked.

He reached down and grabbed her hand, “Let me show you!”

They all followed after Adrien, padding down the hallway in his stockinged feet, before he reached a pair of dark wood doors.

“Okay, so, close your eyes. I need to see if it’s ready.”

They all closed their eyes, as asked, a bit reluctantly on Alya’s part. He peeked inside and squealed quietly in excitement. Marinette squeezed his hand in her own gently.

“Okay, you can open your eyes,” he said as he pushed the doors open. Inside, there was a semi-circle room with a fireplace between two full length windows. It had a roaring fire with some stored in a holder next to it. The lights were dimmed and the room was shrouded in a yellow incandescent glow. Shadows flickered across the walls as the flames danced in the hearth.

Marinette’s eyes were immediately drawn to the large pile of pillows and sleeping bags in the middle of the floor. There were four, head to toe, in a square pattern with extra blankets in the middle of them. Pillows were piled all around the perimeter to give it the feel of a nest. The couches and tables that normally filled this room were pushed against the walls. On the small tables were little dishes with expensive looking, individually wrapped chocolates.

“This is a beautiful room!” Marinette whispered. She loved the fire, she noted, as she stared at the room ahead of her. Although, there was something missing, and she couldn’t help, but feel like she knew what it needed. “You know, this room could use some festive decorations. Maybe a tree?”

Adrien turned to face her. She’d almost thought he would be upset, or discard her comment all together, but instead, he smiled, “Something you could help me out with later?”

“Absolutely!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm stopping it at "Absolutely" because the clock is going to chime 'midnight' and each chapter is a different day. Sorry, but I'm going to be a stickler about it. :)


	8. Day 8: Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some quick fluff!

The clock chimed midnight and they all stilled. It was officially the next day, but they weren’t ready to call it quits just yet.

“I have to make a quick phone call,” Adrien said as he ran over to a panel on the wall.

The other three took a look at the sleeping bags and dove into the plush pillows and blankets.

“This is like the cushiest sleep over I’ve ever been to,” Alya grinned, “I suspect it is an Agreste thing.”

“Most definitely,” Nino nodded in agreement, “I can’t say I don’t feel a little spoiled right now. Not gonna lie, but I’m a little jealous of Adrien’s accommodations while his dad’s gone.”

Marinette frowned. If only her friends knew. He didn’t like to talk about how lonely he felt when his dad was gone, and as Adrien he never had, but she was Ladybug. He’d told her things he’d never told anyone before. When she discovered Chat was Adrien it opened up a whole new world of realizations about him, and how imperfect his life really was, how neglected and sad he felt; especially at Christmas. He had never elaborated on why Christmas was the worst, though, and she’d never pushed. It was a secret even Ladybug wasn’t privy to. She knew, deep in her heart, that it must hurt the worst.

Adrien flopped down next to her with a grunt as he grinned at them all, “I have a surprise coming!”

“Bro, I was just saying—“

Marinette’s eyes widened as she interrupted, “Are we allowed to guess?”

Nino shot her a curious look. It wasn’t like Marinette to interrupt anyone, especially not a friend like that.

She gave him a ‘drop it’ look and returned to smile at Adrien.  
”Yeah!” he nodded, “Go ahead.”

“Like twenty-questions?” Alya asked.

“Go for it!”

“Animal?”

“Nope.”

“Mineral?”

“Uh, maybe in it?”

“Vegetable!” Marinette exclaimed.

“Definitely edible,” he grinned. “You have seventeen more.”

“Chocolate?”

“There’s some chocolate,” he nodded.

“Is it a way you eat chocolate?”

Adrien’s eyebrow rose as he stared at Nino. His question took him off guard, but it was much closer to the mark, “In a way, yes.”

“It’s fondue!” Nino jumped up onto his knees in excitement.

“YES!”

“I knew it!” Nino pumped the air with his fist, “I rock at this game!”

A couple minutes later, a knock sounded at the door.

“Not a moment too soon!” Adrien grinned.

Marinette smiled sadly after him. She could see this for what it was. He was over compensating and she was the only one who could see it for what it was. Adrien was trying so hard to make everyone else happy, masking his own unhappiness if only for a little while. She was sure it did make him feel good, temporarily, until everyone went home and he’d crash. Adrien should be happy. He deserved to be showered with love and generosity, too. If only she could figure out how to do it.

Marinette wasn’t so sure he wasn’t trying to impress them just a little, too, in hopes that they’d want to do this again soon. She couldn’t blame him for not wanting to be alone. Nino might be in awe of all the creature comforts he could provide, perhaps be a little jealous, even. What he didn’t realize was how often Adrien longed to switch places. What Adrien wanted, most of all, money couldn’t buy; hugs, smiles, family time. It was heartbreaking, to think that the kindest, most generous and selfless person she knew, was hurting the most. If she hadn’t been Ladybug she’d never have known because Adrien wore his pain as a smile on his face and a kind word for his neighbor.

The cart was rolled in, a fondue pot alight in the center, and multiple plates of fruits and baked goodies to dip.

“WOW! This looks delicious,” Alya ran over to pull up a seat from the perimeter of the room.

Marinette slowly walked up beside Adrien and nudged him with her shoulder, “Pretty impressive there, kit.”

Adrien draped an arm across her shoulders and grinned, “Of course. I know how much you love chocolate.”

Marinette’s eyes widened in realization as she bowed out of his hold, “I completely forgot! I brought something, too.”

He watched as she disappeared back down the hall way and returned with her bag. From inside, she pulled out a little tin and held it out to him.

“I brought this for you,” she beamed as she held it out to him.

Adrien stared, as if time stood still, before going to pop the top off excitedly, “I think I know what this is!”

“I bet you do,” she grinned.

Adrien gasped, “MORE fudge?!?!” He reached out and gave her a hug, “You know, no one in all of France makes fudge as well as your parents.”

Marinette blushed scarlet and cleared her throat nervously, but it was Alya who chimed in, “What are you talking about? Her parents are bakers. Marinette makes all the fudge.”

Their eyes locked. Marinette bit her lip as Adrien gaped openly in unabashed adulation. It was the highest compliment she could ever hope for; her cat was speechless. So much so, his hand slowly came to cover his mouth when a tiny excited squeak escaped.

“I think he likes it,” Nino whispered from beside Marinette which caused chuckles from Marinette and Alya, both.

“You think?” she muttered out the side of her mouth.

Adrien popped a piece of fudge in his mouth in response.

They all dove into the fondue pot, except for Adrien who was content to eat his fudge, and ate themselves sick.

Nino yawned, “Well, guys, this has been great, but I’m going to have to be the party pooper and bow out.”

Adrien yawned in response and they all laughed. It was 1:30 in the morning and they all were feeling the sugar coma coming on top of the sleepiness.

They all snuggled into their sleeping bags to sleep for the night.

Sniffles. Marinette heard sniffles. A quick glance at her phone said it was 3:00 in the morning. She sat up to look around the room. By the firelight she could see Alya and Nino both passed out. Adrien was facing away from her, but when she heard the sniffle again she saw his shoulders lurch.

She slipped silently from beneath her bag and crawled over to him. “Adrien?” Her hand touched his shoulder and he flinched. His head whipped back to her, before he immediately rolled away, but she could see the tear track down his nose.

Marinette laid down next to the opening in his sleeping bag and whispered, “Roll over.”

At her request, Adrien did as she asked, but he laid an arm over his face.

Marinette launched forward and wrapped her arms around his middle, dislodging his arm, and eliciting a surprised yelp. He dropped his arm to her shoulder and buried his nose in her hair.

“I told you to come to me when you’re upset,” she scolded, “You don’t have to say anything, but know that I’m here for you.”

He nodded and a small whine escaped his throat. She squeezed tighter.

“If you want to talk about it, you can. If you’re not, that’s fine. If you ever decide you want to, I’ll be waiting. Okay?”

He nodded again.

“Good night,” she whispered into his chest.

He clutched her to his chest, like she was his lifeline, and hummed agreement. His voice cracked slightly when he whispered, “Night.”

Eventually, Adrien managed to fall asleep. Marinette stayed awake until she could hear his steady breathing and soft snores. She had a lot of work ahead of her.

The next morning, Marinette awoke to hushed whispers and overwhelming warmth. She felt secure as she nuzzled closer to the source of heat against her face and the blankets seemed to tighten around her in a gentle hug.

That was until she heard the squeal of, “Aww” and the sound of a camera click from her best friend. Everything came flooding back in a flash. Marinette’s eyes opened and she blinked at the close proximity of a blue t-shirt. It was the same shade of blue as Adrien’s pajama top last night. Okay, so she’d just play it off like it’s no big deal. Right? Right. She could do that. People get cold sometimes.

Marinette stretched her arms and yawned as she rolled onto her back. The arms around her rib cage were reluctant to give any slack, but she still managed to shift over a little.

“Morning, guys!” she grinned nonchalantly.

Alya wasn’t buying it. Her smug smile and sly eyes told her this was just the beginning, “Morning. Sleep well?”

Marinette looked back at a still soundly sleeping Adrien and felt her lips quirk up at the edges, “Yes, actually, if you must know.” _Confidence, Marinette_.

“I must,” Alya smirked, “So how was it?”

“How was what?”

“Sleeping snuggled up with the golden child for the entire night.”

“First, it wasn’t the entire night. Second, wonderful. Why?”

“I never even heard you get up,” Nino admitted with wonder, “I must have been _out_.” He got up and made his way around the room to stretch his legs.

“Yeah, why did you move?” Alya asked. Her nosy side was showing.

Marinette set her jaw and rolled back over against Adrien’s warm chest, “I was cold. I’m still cold.” She was, too. For some reason, as soon as that fire went out the entire room got freezing. It had to be all those windows.

“I see,” Alya nodded as if in deep thought, “I’ll let it go for now, but we’re going to have a discussion later.”

Suddenly, Nino started exclaiming frantically, “DUDES!!! You gotta check this out! It’s snowing!”

Alya hurried to the window and whooped, “You mean snowed! Wow, look at all that fresh powder. Girl, there’s at least five inches and still falling.”

As if summoned from the depths, Adrien’s eyes peeked open, “Snow?”

Marinette leaned up on her elbow to look down at him, “So they say.”

“Marinette?” His eyes were still hazy and his brain fogged over as he tried to gain his bearings. She found it ridiculously adorable.

“Last time I checked,” she poked his nose before running her fingers through his hair. He sighed and let his eyes fall closed again.

“What kind of wake up call is this? I could use some more of these.”

She chuckled, “Dork.”

“Seriously, keep doing that,” he said, grabbing her retreating hand and placing it back in his hair, “I would pay you. Every day. Just this.”

Marinette scoffed, “You don’t have to pay me. I can’t do it every day, either.”

He pouted, “Way to burst my bubble, Mari.”

She leaned forward to hug his head before hopping out of the sleeping bag before he could capture her again. As she gazed out of the window she smiled to herself.

“Every time I see a snow like this I dream about going out in one of those antique sleighs. You know? The ones with the horses hitched to the front and bells on their collars,” she sighed happily, “What a way to spend a day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who are not aware, I have three littles. This is a very busy time of year. Weekends, and the week or so leading up to Christmas, will be rather difficult for me to keep up with this fic. I am going to do my darnedest and try, though.  
> I might get behind this weekend, but I'll make it up on Monday if I do. The next week should be business as usual and then the the Christmas bomb will explode.


	9. Day 9: Sleigh Ride

Sabine called up the stairs to her daughter. She’d been painting her nails for the last ten minutes, but her breakfast was getting cold.

“You can paint your toes later, Marinette! These crepes won’t keep.”

Marinette blew on her toes and sighed. This coat had gone on smoothly, but in order to maintain that smooth look it had to dry and set completely.

“Maman! I’ll be down when it’s dry,” she called back. She had already invested way too much time into this paint job to bail.  
Sabine grinned at the boy standing in her kitchen, “Are you sure we shouldn’t just tell her you’re here?”

“No,” he shushed, “I want it to be a surprise.”

“Well, would you like some crepes? I’ve made some cream and fruit fillings.”

“Yes, please!” he beamed as he pulled up a stool, “Thank you, Madame Cheng.”

“Sabine dear!” she insisted. He’d been to their house about once a week for the last few months, but he still couldn’t stop using her titles.

“Sabine.” He bowed his head shyly and his cheeks pinked. Calling his best-friend, not-girlfriend, but more than friend’s mother by her first name was venturing into unknown territory for him. His strange relationship with Marinette was pretty foreign to him, too, now that he thought about it.

Marinette hopped down the stairs, two at a time, “Okay, maman, I’m here. Hope you saved some crepes for mmm—uh…Adrien?! What are you doing here?”

His expression morphed from one of a gently chastised child to that of a boy about to burst at the seems with excitement; he literally jumped up out of his seat, “Come and look!”

“Don’t you dare!” Sabine walked behind Adrien and pushed him gently down into his seat by two firm hands on his shoulders, “You eat young man. My Mari told me you are home alone. I realize you have someone to cook for you, but I firmly believe that to get the most out of a meal is to eat it in the company of others. You sit while Mari and I fix our plates.”

He nodded again and began to eat his crepe in silence and deep thought. It had never occurred to him how much more comfortable he was to eat with someone else. Perhaps what Sabine said had some truth to it. He’d have to see if he had his usual indigestion after breakfast.

Surprisingly, he did not.

“Can I show her now, Mada…Sabine?”

Sabine glanced over to Marinette, whose brows rose, and nodded, “You better go look, Marinette. I’m afraid he’ll explode if you don’t at least go peak.”

Marinette cast a cursory glance to her mother and Adrien before standing to go look out the window. She gasped at what she saw.

There, down on the street before the bakery, was Adrien’s usual car, except, behind it stood a very cold looking Arthur patting the noses of two very large horses. He held bits of apples in both hands and held them under their muzzles.

Behind the horses, hitched to their harnesses, was an old wood sleigh. Marinette jerked her attention back to Adrien who grinned back. He gave a little ‘what else could I do’ shrug. “We just happened to have one,” he cleared his throat nervously, “polished and ready, in the stable, for holiday photo spreads.”

“You have a stable!” Marinette’s eyes lit up.

“Yes?” He could have sworn he’d mentioned that before; either in person or in a magazine article that she’d already confessed she read all of them.

Marinette squealed excitedly, “I used to take riding lessons. I love horses! Can we go, maman?”

Sabine shooed them out, “Go, go, but bundle up. It’s cold out and not supposed to get any warmer.”

Marinette grabbed two mugs of hot chocolate and ran down the stairs. Her eyes grew with anticipation as she approached the sleigh, but before she allowed herself to pet a horse, she turned to face Arthur and held one of the mugs out to him.

He stared at it, but didn’t take it.

“Here,” she insisted, “It’s for you. I brought it in case you wanted it. It is awfully cold this today.”

He gave a small smile and quiet grunt as he took it into his massive hands. She felt the cold gloves cover her small ones as the cup lifted gently out of them.

“Have a good day, Arthur, and thank you.”

He nodded and held the cup up in thanks before retreating to the warmth of the car.

“You’re welcome.”

She turned to Adrien who gave her a playful frown, “One mug of hot chocolate, Mari? There are two people.”

She smirked, “I didn’t figure you’d mind sharing, Chaton. I am your drink buddy, right?”

He let out a burst of laughter, “I knew that would come back to bite me.”

“Don’t worry,” she nudged him with her shoulder, “I’m not in the mood for hot chocolate. You can drink it all as long as you share the warmth.”

Adrien’s eyes sparkled, “Of course!”

Marinette turned to pet one of the horse’s noses and it snorted against her palm. She could feel the warm breath through her knit gloves. “This one is pretty…and big!”

It was a mare, sixteen hands or so, with an vibrant auburn coat. It shined in the reflected light off of the snow.

Adrien nodded, “That she is.”

She stepped over to the other horse and patted his chestnut nose. He was the same height as the other horse, but his coat was darker. His body was a deep chestnut brown with some auburn stippling towards the tips with a dark brown, almost black mane and tail.

“What are their names?”

“This is Masie,” the patted the mare’s nose and she lifted her head to tap his hand. “And this is Blaze.”

“Blaze?”

Adrien blushed, “I was like four or five when I named him. When he was a foal his coat looked like it was on fire in the sun.”

“He still sort of does,” she grinned as she tilted her head to see the tips of red shine in the light. “Is he and this mare a breeding pair?”

“No, no, no,” he shook his head, “Blaze is a gelding. It’s not a good idea to have mares and stallions hitched together.”

“Oh,” she glanced up at him nervously, “What’s a gelding?”

He snorted, “A castrated horse.”

Her eyes widened, “OH! That’s why you don’t hitch stallions and mares.”

“Uh, they get a little restless and can be violent if the time is right. It’s just too dangerous.”

“I see,” she nodded, “So, tell me about Masie.”

Adrien stood in silent contemplation for a moment. She could see a soft sadness in his eyes, but she didn’t push. There was more to the mare than met the eye.

“She’s my mother’s horse,” he whispered. Marinette stepped closer to him to wrap an arm around his. She expected that to be it, but he continued. His eyes were unfocused as he spoke, “It was a tradition we used to have. After it snowed, she’d saddle the horses early in the morning and wake me up before dawn. We’d sneak out and go for a ride, she and I. It was a special thing we did together, just us. I really miss it.” Marinette heard the implied ‘ _her_ ’ in his statement and watched a single tear crawl down his cheek.

She also realized the importance of what he’d done for her. Adrien had hitched his and his mother’s horses to a sleigh _for her_ ; she could tell he had a special connection to the animals with the tenderness of his pats and their reaction to him. Her heart felt like it could break; burst open at the joy that Adrien would do this for her, but simultaneously shatter as she could feel the heartache radiate out of him.

This wasn’t a side of himself he’d allowed them to see the last few days. No, this was a side he kept heavily guarded and Marinette knew it for what it was. This was one of those reasons Adrien didn’t like the holidays. It wasn’t the holidays, per say, but those he associated with this time of year. It was enough of a reminder to trigger all the sad memories for him. She just wished she could help.

Marinette wiped the tear off of his cheek and grinned up at him, “That is an adorable story, Adrien. I’m sure she’d love that you took her horse out for a run in the snow.”

Adrien snapped out of his reminisce and smiled at her, “Yeah, I think so, too. Masie loves to run. Come on, let’s get in.”

Marinette allowed Adrien to escort her into the sleigh. He held his hand out and supplied a little boost so she could make it up onto the seat.

“There’s blankets to keep us warm.” He leaned down and pulled the mounds of blankets up over their legs and tucked them around their chests.

“What about the horses?”

He grinned as he picked up the reins and gave a gentle tug to let the horses know it was almost time, “They’ll be fine. This is their favorite time of the year. You should see how they pranced and played when I let them out of the stables to run this morning. As soon as their hooves hit the powder they started jumping around like crazy.”

“How old are they?”

He tipped his head back and closed his eyes for a moment in thought, “Oh, uh, I was four when Blaze was born so…thirteen. Masie is fourteen.”

“They’re beautiful.”

As Marinette was appreciating the horses, Adrien gave a flick of his wrists and the sleigh began gliding through the snow.

Marinette shrieked excitedly and clutched onto Adrien as it lurched forward, “Ah!” Then she beamed, “This is the coolest way to travel, ever!”

Adrien lifted an arm to let her clutch closer if she wanted, which she did, as he felt her burrow closer into his warmth. “I haven’t been on a sleigh ride in years. I couldn’t resist when you said you’d always wanted to the other night. This sleigh never actually hits the snow and it’s a shame.”

“We don’t usually have enough snow for it.”

“That’s true,” he nodded, “But when there is enough snow it should get to come out once in a while.”

As they pulled around the corner, and onto one of the main avenues, Marinette saw how empty the streets were. The only sound in the silence was the slight crunching as the sleigh skated across the snow and the gentle ringing of the silver bells on the horses’ harnesses.

They’d gone a couple blocks before they came to the shopping district. Though there were very few vehicles out, it hadn’t stopped the shoppers. Many of the parents and their children pointed and cheered at the sight of the antique cutter skidding down the street.

“Look, maman!” a little girl exclaimed, “A sleigh!”

“You don’t see them like that anymore,” an older man remarked offhandedly at the style of the antique.

Adrien grimaced slightly, “I’m sorry, Marinette, I didn’t realize it would be such a spectacle.”

She shook her head, “I don’t mind. I just hope this doesn’t cause you too much trouble if photos show up in the tabloids tomorrow.”

He shrugged, “If they do, they do. It happens all the time. Father’s only request is that it isn’t indecent or defaming. I doubt a sleigh ride would qualify as either.” She nodded.

He drove them out of the inner city. When he let the horses increase the pace the energy changed. They were enjoying the ride, arguably, as much as they were. It was like that for the next ten minutes or so before he pulled them over into a little park. It appeared like they were two out of only a handful of people to visit since the snow; besides the animals that had very obviously enjoyed themselves.

“Look at the rime on those trees,” Marinette gaped, “It’s like a greeting card only covered entirely in glitter.”

The branches were covered in a clear glaze, like they’d been dipped in iso-malt and left to dry, with little flecks of white dusting the tops. It glistened in the sunlight, sparkling like perfectly cut gemstones.

Adrien glanced down at Marinette before grinning, “I can’t remember when it was ever so beautiful.”

Her face blushed a shade pinker, even under the natural rose of her chilled cheeks. “I bet it’s just because I’m here,” she chuckled jokingly.

He wrapped an arm around her and leaned closer to whisper, “I bet you’re right.”


	10. Day 10: It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just posted Chapters 9 and 10 today. Playing catch up! :)

“I swear, Alya, he came over on a real, honest to goodness antique sleigh!” Marinette gushed. She kept Adrien’s memory to herself since it wasn’t hers to share.

“I saw!” Alya exclaimed into the phone. She reached forward hastily to catch a cup of coffee she almost sent spilling across her desk, “You’re page one of the Paris Gazette!”

“No way!” Marinette rushed to her computer and pulled up the Paris Gazette website. Sure enough, there was a picture of the pair, grinning and cuddled up beneath a wealth of wool blankets, right at the top.

“So…what did you guys do?” Alya leaned back with her cup of coffee clutched in her fingertips. It was held immobile in anticipation.

“Well, we drove through the city and to a park just south of here,” Marinette stared off into space remembering the magic of it, “It was gorgeous.”

“Did you about freeze?”

Marinette sighed dreamily, “No.”

“Wasn’t it cold?”

“Yes, but Adrien brought a bunch of blankets for us to share and he was generous in sharing his warmth.”

“Oh, was he now?” She hummed salaciously. Then she jerked back in realization and grumbled, “Hey, now! That was a jab at me, wasn’t it? You know that I’d share body heat if I have any to spare.”

Their trek into the cold last year had ended in them both curled up under blankets, clutching cups of hot tea, and watching their clothes drip as they thawed out in the Dupain-Cheng’s kitchen. Neither girl had an ounce of heat to spare.

Marinette snickered, “I know, Al, I’m just kidding.”

“I am not a warm bodied person,” she groaned, “It’s not my fault we froze. What are you doing today? Seeing Adrien again? You guys have been awfully chummy lately.”

“No, actually,” _and I’ll leave that chummy comment alone,_ “Maman and Papa said it’s our annual baking day. It really is the most wonderful time of the year!”

“Your parents are bakers. Isn’t every day a baking day?”

“No, not the bakery stuff, but our own treats like what we give out as gifts and whatnot.”  
”Oooh, the specials? Like puppy chow and peanut butter balls?”

“You know it,” Marinette confirmed, “Cinnamon popcorn, salted caramel cashew clusters, dipped pretzels—“

“STOOOOP!!” Alya whined, “You’re going to make me drool on myself here. You’re giving samples from the Dupain-Cheng sweet spree, right?”

“Would I ever let you down? Consider it part of your Christmas gift.”

“Done and done!”

There was a loud ‘thump’ from downstairs. Marinette took that as her cue.

“Talk to you later, Alya! I have to go.”

“Bye, sweets.”

Marinette made her way down to the kitchen and found both of her parents already covered in flour.

“Am I interrupting anything?” she chuckled as her parents pulled apart from an affectionate kiss.

“No, no,” Sabine readjusted the reindeer antlers perched on the top of her head, “Your father just tripped coming through the door.”

Marinette glanced over to where there was a large starburst ‘poof’ shape of flour on the floor just inside of the door.

“You attacked him under the mistletoe again, didn’t you, maman?”

Sabine blushed and turned to face the sink, “The mess wasn’t entirely his fault.”

Marinette knew it. She had the silliest parents in the world and she loved it.

Tom wore his giant apron that said, ‘Ho, ho, home for the holidays.’ He had on a pair of antlers and a red rubber nose. Sabine had on a similar apron, but hers was a festive dress with a smaller apron printed on the front. It made her look like she was wearing a dress. Her antlers matched her husband’s, but she’d hung tiny light bulb ornaments from the points.

“Come on, Marinette, we’ve got a set for you.”

She walked up to the counter and found her own antlers. They were wrapped with gold and silver iridescent garland. She snugged them onto her head, struck a pose, and grinned, “How do I look?”

“Dashing, my dear, simply dashing,” Tom said as he kissed her forehead.

“Don’t forget your apron,” Sabine called and tied the apron around her.

On the front of Marinette’s apron was a set of pockets. Each pocket was labeled, ‘wooden spoon, whisk, spatula, and measuring spoons. Then there was a large pocket below those that said ‘measuring cups.’

“Oh, guys, you shouldn’t have!?!” Her mother had apparently made it just for her. Marinette was known to misplace everything in the kitchen and her parents had made this apron, special, with her in mind.

“As long as you put everything back where it goes,” Tom gestured to her apron, “You shouldn’t lose anything today.”

“I would suggest washing after using, and before putting it away, though,” Sabine grinned.

“Yes,” Marinette held a finger up, “That’s very important.”

They spent the rest of the day cooking and baking. Marinette made some of her nonna’s special fudge at her papa’s request. He never had any luck getting it to set up right. The man could bake pretty much anything on the planet, but when it came to cooking he stayed away from the kitchen. Sabine, on the other hand, was a fantastic cook and candy maker. She’d taught Marinette everything she knew.

Sabine, on the other hand, was working on an even more finicky beast of a different color; peanut brittle. This was a treat both Marinette and Tom were more than happy to eat, but would rather not be part of the making process. After multiple attempts, and failures, along with some ER worthy burns on Marinette’s part, it was best to just bow down to Sabine and let her work her voodoo.

Marinette flopped down on the couch with an ‘oof.’

“What a day!” Tom exclaimed as he dropped onto the other couch, “I call it a success!”

“Me, too,” she grinned, “A success that I’m glad is over.”

“Speak for yourselves!” Sabine called from the kitchen, “I still have half a bag of pretzels to coat before I’m done.”

Marinette shot her mother at thumbs up, “You’re doing great, ma.”

Sabine just chuckled to herself. That was a gesture of typical ‘done Marinette’ fashion.

Marinette pulled her cell phone out of her pocket to check her messages. It had been an extraordinarily long day of cooking and she hadn’t had time to do much else.

There were a few messages from Adrien and Alya. 

**12:15 PM Adrien to M: Just to warn you, I came down with something today.**

**12: 18 PMAdrien to M: Nothing real bad. Stuffy nose, sore throat, and tired. No fever.**

Marinette frowned. Poor guy. It sucks being sick. She’d have to check and see if she could do anything for him.

**3:31 PM Alya to M: How’d the sweets turn out?**

**4:52 PM Alya to M: Nino and I are going out to the movies tomorrow. Adrien can’t make it. You game?**

**5:32 PM Marinette to Alya: Sorry, Alya. I want to go shopping for my parents tomorrow. There’s a sale I don’t want to miss.**

**5:33 PM Alya to M: No worries. I guess it’ll just be Nino and I. ;)**

Marinette returned to Adrien’s messages and typed out a response. He’d been sick all day and hadn’t heard anything from her. She felt awful.

**5:35 PM Marinette to Adrien: Poor kit! I’m sorry it took so long to check my messages. We were busy making sweets here today.**

**5:36 PM: Do you need me to come over later? I could bring some soup by or something?**

Adrien was curled over on his pillow, two rolled up pieces of toilet paper poking out, and his mouth hanging open. Breathing was pretty difficult right now and he just wanted to pass out and not wake up until his cold was gone. Then his phone chimed to tell him he had a message.

He rolled over to grab his phone with a sense of trepidation. His father’s flight was due to arrive at any minute and he was sure Nathalie was just reminding him of his photo shoot for tomorrow.

Even though he felt like crap, the corners of his mouth pulled into a smile when he read ‘Marinette’ on the ID. What a pleasant surprise?! He felt a sense of warmth and security to know she was there on the other end thinking about him. **  
5:37 PM Adrien to M: Probably not today. I’m just going to see if I can sleep it off.**

**5:39 PM Marinette to Adrien: All right! Take it easy the next couple days and let me know if you want me to come help out.**

He sighed happily. If only he could.

**5:40 PM Adrien to M: I’ll try! Thanks, Marinette. Have a great night!**

**5:41 PM Marinette to Adrien: Sleep well. Good night!**

Sabine smirked as she came to sit on the couch next to Tom.

“She must be talking to Adrien,” she mused aloud.

Marinette spluttered and dropped her phone, “I…I…uh, well, yeah. I was.” She glanced away guiltily. “How did you know?”

“It’s that smile,” Tom sighed and shook his head, “Can’t hide it from us, sweetie. I can see love a mile away.”

“Nope,” Sabine agreed, “You two really ought to make things official.”

“Maman!? Papa?! I’m not…we’re not…ugh, I’m going to bed.”

“Good night, sweetheart,” the both chorused from the couch as Marinette grumbled the entire way to her room.

She barked in response, “Good night.”


	11. Day 11: Silver Bells

Marinette glanced down at her watch and sighed. Shopping for her parents had taken a lot longer than she’d anticipated. Her father’s new filling injector had been on backorder, for weeks, and today she was assured she could pick it up. They’d misplaced it and delayed her another hour.

She'd spent most of her time listening to the bell ringers outside of the shop's door. Marinette was sure her head would be ringing for hours to come. BUT, finally, she was done. Done done done.

“Maman, papa! I’m home!” she called as the bells of the side entrance to the bakery jingled. More bells.

There was a thump and the thundering treads of her father coming rumbling down the stairs.

“Stop!” he shouted, “Don’t come up to the house. Marinette, we are in the middle of something upstairs.”

“Oh?” she glanced upwards and twisted to look around her father who shifted to block her wandering eyes. “What am I supposed to do?”

“You could stay down here…in the bakery?” he grimaced, “Or call Alya and see if you can hang out?”

“She’s at a movie with Nino,” Marinette frowned. She took her bags and placed them on the stairs, “I guess I could go for a walk or something. How long do you think you’ll be?”

He screwed up his face in thought, “I don’t know? I could text you when we’re done.”

“Uh, yeah,” Marinette tipped her head back, “I suppose I’ll find something to do.”

“That’s a good girl. We owe you one. Love you, munchkin!”

“Love you, too, papa.”

* * *

Marinette made her way back to the shopping district, thinking about stopping by the mall where Alya and Nino were watching their movie, but she thought better of it when she suspected they might be doing some shopping afterwards for yours truly.

She decided to walk back around behind the Grand Paris Hotel on her way home when she heard the sound of a car window rolling down. A gummy voice called out to her, “Hey, there, lovely. Want a ride?”

To her surprise, and bemusement, “Adrien?! What are you doing out? You’re sick. You should be at home resting. You sound awful.”

His face morphed from an attempt at high spirited to miserable, “Thanks.” He coughed and attempted a thick swallow as if to enhance her point. He pulled the handle on the inside of the door and popped it open, “Get in. It’s cold.”

She didn’t argue. She felt bad enough for him without the need for him to open his mouth. The least she could do is climb into his offered ride.

“Okay, scoot over,” she said as she squeezed into the back seat.

Adrien couldn’t scoot over very far. On the other side of the car were suit bags and various small boxes of what appeared to be high fashion accessories.

“There’s not much space.”

“Here,” she said as she kicked a leg over his own and plopped down on his lap. She grinned down at his shocked expression, “Perfect.”

His face flushed, on top of his already rose complexion, and he nodded in agreement.

“What are you doing out today?”

“I’d ask you the same question,” she glared, “You’re supposed to be at home. You deflected earlier, but I’m going to find out.”

He let out a dejected sigh, “I had a photo shoot today.”

Marinette about hit the roof, “You DIDN’T!”

“I did,” he rubbed his throat and nodded, “But Guy cancelled. He said he couldn’t work with me like this.” Adrien gestured to his face and groaned. His eyes were drooping and his cheeks were an angry red.

“As if you were the inconvenience,” Marinette whined and wrapped her arm around his head, “You shouldn’t be working like this. You said you didn’t have a fever, but you definitely do now. I can’t believe your father would expect you to. He ought to be reported.”  
Adrien flashed her a grin, but it was as fake as his cheer.

“Stop,” she scolded, “You know you don’t feel good. Don’t go trying to fool me. I know better.”

“Apparently, father does not.”

Marinette turned accusingly to Arthur, “Did you approve of this?”

He growled and shrugged. Code for ‘what could I do?’

“Right,” she nodded. “Sorry. It’s not like you have a say.” Marinette was silent for a second as she contemplated something. Her face scrunched up, debating in her head, before nodding resolutely, “Well, that’s it. I’m taking you home right now.”

“Your house?” he pleaded hopefully.

“Nope. Sorry, no luck. Parents kicked me out.”

“That’s why you were out wandering aimlessly.”

“I was not wandering…I was wandering aimlessly. Yeah. But guess what? Now I’m taking care of you. To the Adrien’s, Arthur.”

“Gorilla, ignore her. I don’t want to go home.”

“Hey, Arthur, I realize he’s your pseudo-boss, but really, do you trust his judgment in this state? Just look at this face.” As if on cue, Adrien sniffed miserably.

Arthur nodded and drove towards the Agreste state. When they arrived, Adrien was already half asleep leaning on Marinette’s shoulder.

“Adrien?” she whispered, “We’re here. You need to wake up.” She pushed gently on his forehead and he let it flop back against the seat of the car.

“Don’t feel good,” he groaned.

“I know, kitty, but I have to get you into the house. Come on, Adrien. Your nice, warm, comfy bed and I’ll make you some nice nourishing broth with some herbal tea. I’ll get a compress for your fever. Come on, hon, help me out here.”

He smirked, “Did you just call me ‘hon?’ Was that a term of endearment, bug?” He held his open hand in front of his chest and pumped it a few times exaggeratedly.

“Okay, stop being cute, this is serious. I have to get you into bed.”

Adrien giggled childishly and fanned his face, “Whew, Marinette, you’re going to give me a complex.”

She pressed her palm to his cheek and frowned, “I’m not being funny. This is serious and so is your fever.”

“All the better,” he smirked and let his head fall back deliriously.

That’s when she began to worry. “Arthur!”

Adrien’s bodyguard was standing on the outside of the door, offering them space, and waiting for a knock. When he heard Marinette scream his name he opened it hastily.

“I need you to carry him inside. He shouldn’t be out like this.”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Adrien whined and mumbled, “I’m tired.”

“All the more reason for him to carry you; maybe your father will see how weak you are and stop being _stupid_.” Her brows furrowed as she spit out the last word tumultuous ferocity.

Adrien didn’t argue when Arthur carried him up the stairs. Marinette frowned after them, seeing how small and fragile he looked. Sure, he wasn’t actually small and fragile, not even that sick, but he meant something more to her now than he had before. It made his existence even more precious to her. To see him unable to function as his usual radiant self was discouraging.

“Thank you,” she called to a retreating Arthur. She pulled the heavy comforter over the top of Adrien. She could feel him shivering beneath her fingers. “You’re not going anywhere, now.”

Marinette pulled out her cell phone to text her parents.

**Marinette to Maman: Ran into Adrien even though he’s sick. I’m at his house to help out. Be home later?**

**Maman to Marinette: No worries, dear. Make sure he gets better and gets some rest. We’ll see you when you get home.**

“I’ve been feeling sick a while,” Adrien chattered through his clenched teeth, “This is day four.”

“You were sick on our sleigh ride?”

“Not bad. My throat tickled and my head hurt. Now it's like my ears are ringing.” _Something they had in common._

Marinette started to worry, “Adrien, I think you might have a strep infection.”

“Strep? Where would I have gotten strep? What about my stuffy nose?”

“It’s going around right now. You can just pick it up. The stuffy nose may not even be related. We were out all day the day before, remember?” She stood up and sighed heavily, “I need to take your temperature. It feels really hot.”

Marinette ran downstairs to find Nathalie. The assistant was sitting at her desk outside of Gabriel’s main office.

“Nathalie, I think Adrien has a fever. Do you have a thermometer?”

She frowned, as she produced a thermometer from her desk, “For when I get ill at work. We have a doctor on call. Should I call him?”

Marinette didn’t mince words, “Yes,” and ran back up the stairs. She saw Nathalie pick up the receiver out of the corner of her eye.

Adrien was asleep by the time she got back to his room. She took the temporal thermometer and ran it across his forehead.

“104!!!!” She reached over for the compress on his bedside table and laid it across his forehead. That doctor had better be on his way or she really did contemplate reporting his father. No way should his son have tried to work like this.

* * *

There was a knock on the door and Nathalie came in with an older man. He wore a suit and carried a little black bag.

“How is he?” she asked.

Marinette shrugged, “He’s been sleeping since I saw you last. It’s been half an hour. His fever was 104.” She handed the thermometer back to Nathalie who looked at it as if it had burned her.

“104?! That’s awfully high.”

“It is,” the doctor nodded, “But not unusual for some bacterial infections.” He pulled out a swab from his kit and asked for assistance, “Could you hold his mouth open for me? I’ll just slip this in here.” He took a tongue depressor out and held his tongue down, “And swab back here.”

Adrien gagged in his sleep, but didn’t wake up.

“A rapid strep test should give us an idea,” the doctor mused as he put the swab in the vial of fluid and shook it. Within a couple minutes it had turned blue. “Well, that’s rather damning. It’s definitely strep. I’ll prescribe him some antibiotics and have them delivered as soon as possible.”

He stood and started packing all his stuff away.

“Is there anything we should do?” Nathalie asked.

“Don’t let him go anywhere for the next twelve to twenty-four hours or so. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate and rest. He’ll be contagious until about a day after antibiotics are administered. Just keep an eye out. He can have acetaminophen or ibuprofen to manage his pain and fever, but they aren’t necessary. Just give him the option.”

“Nathalie, could he have some broth sent up and some tea?”

“Absolutely,” she nodded and turned to walk the doctor out of the house, “Thank you, Dr. Albert.”

Marinette stuck around long enough for Adrien’s antibiotics to arrive. She woke him up gently by stroking her fingers through his hair, her voice song-like, “Kiii-tty. Oh, Kiiii-tty. Wake up, wake up. I have some medicine for you and some broth to make your throat feel better.”

He moaned painfully before his lashes fluttered open, “Marinette?” His eyes closed immediately and he rolled to face away from her.

“Come on, you have to take your antibiotics.”

Adrien groaned and pressed a pillow over his head, “You’re a figment of my imagination., Go away.”

“I am not!”

“I’m dreaming…or hallucinating. My head is killing me.”

Marinette climbed over to kneel in front of him again, “I assure you, I’m here. I also have medicine for you to take so you’ll start feeling better. I bet part of your headache is from dehydration, so this tea should help with that, too.”

Green eyes peeked out from beneath the pillow, “I’m not dreaming? The car?”

“You picked me up today, yes,” she nodded.

His eyes widened in horror. “Oh, shit, I’ve been so rude,” he threw the pillow off of his head and sat up, a wince of pain flashing across his face, “Ow. I’m sorry I’ve slept the entire time, Marinette.”

“No worries. You feel like hell. Here, take this,” she held the white pill out and he took it without question. “I can’t stay forever, though.”

He frowned dismally, “You’re never going to want to come over again, are you? I never should have brought you back here. That was my fault. You’re probably bored out of your mind and wasted your entire day with a sick—“

Marinette cut him off with a hand over his mouth and a smirk, “First, stop ranting. Second, you need to stop selling yourself short. I didn’t do anything I didn’t want to and I’ve been just fine. I will definitely want to come over again, but hopefully you’ll feel better the next time.”

He grinned sheepishly, “Ok.” Adrien took another long pull on the hot tea she held out to him and sighed, “You’re going to want to wash your hand or you’re going to get sick, too.”

She shrugged, “I will, but if I do, I do. No biggie. Nothing some antibiotics can’t fix.”

“Are you going home then?”

“I will soon,” she nodded, “But why rush? We already established, meds can fix everything. I can never get time back. I might as well use it wisely by making sure you’re as comfortable as can be.”

She grinned and Adrien curled around her side, letting his head rest on her rib-cage, “Even if I fall asleep?”

She ran her fingers through his hair as if in response, “Even then.”


	12. Day 12: Winter Wonderland

Yesterday had been an eventful day. Marinette decided today would be one where she could pamper herself; nail polish, a hot compress to open her pores, a korean face mask, a long bath, then a full body lotion followed by oil to lock in moisture.

Marinette was relaxing with her thoughts, afterwards, when there was a knock on her skylight. Only one person would be here to visit via that entry at this time of night.

“Chat!” she exclaimed happily and threw the door open. He dropped onto her mezzanine and grinned at her. “I take it you feel better today?”

“Oh, man,” his eyes widened, “Do I? I DO! I’m like a hundred times better. No fever, not contagious. It’s like magic.”

He reached forward and picked her up to spin her around.

“AH!” she squealed, “Put me down.”

“What would I do without you, Marinette? Did you realize I could have caught scarlet fever and permanently weakened the muscle of my heart? Or I could have died?”

“Yes,” she frowned and nodded, “It’s not something to play with.”

“Yeah, well, no one in my house knows anything about stuff like that. My father has been in an overprotective funk for the past day. He doesn't appear to be shaken, but he's been twirling his hair and occasionally his eye will twitch. Those are massive tells, by the way. He only does it when he's really nervous. How did you know it was strep?”

“I had it last year. I assumed it was what you had because of your symptoms; sore throat, pounding headache, high fever. It’s pretty common, too, and the news just had a spot on it. I guessed," she shrugged.

“So, you’re telling me the girl I’m dating is either a genius or clairvoyant. WIN-WIN!”

Everything between them came screeching to a halt.

_Wait, what?!_

“What?”

“You just said ‘the girl you’re dating.’”

“Did I?” Adrien backed away from her and scratched the hair at the back of his neck nervously.

“Yeah.”

He kicked the ground and refused to look at her. “Well, uh…I feel sheepish. This is awkward. Can we just forget I said that. Ah, I’m horribly embarrassed.”

Marinette watched him internally implode as he paced her bedroom floor. His hand kept raking through his hair and she felt like she should help, but what was she supposed to do? Did he want to date her or was that just a slip of the tongue?

She decided to lessen the blow. Maybe she could play it off as a joke and they’d let it slide, “Okay, so when was the first date? The café, crashing the illegal soup kitchen, lunch at my place, the pillow fight, the sleep over, the sleigh ride…need I go on? Which is it? We’ve spent a lot of time together.” She added it with an exaggerated ‘wink’ as in ‘wink-wink, nudge-nudge.’

Adrien didn’t _get it_.

He stopped his pacing and turned to look at her. Adrien’s eyes brightened exponentially as he practically pounced on her with excited energy, “All of them!?!”

Marinette’s breath caught in her chest. _Is he serious right now_? “You’re not kidding, are you?”

“No, of course not. Going out with you is tons of fun,” he paused and she could feel his confidence waiver, “Are you?”

“I’m, uh…” she sat down on her bed and hummed, “Wow, are we doing this?” Marinette dropped her chin into her hands and bit her lip nervously.

Adrien sat next to her, cautiously, “Doing what?”

“Having the whole ‘relationship’ talk.”

“Marinette, I have a confession to make. I’ve liked you for…let’s just say I didn’t know you were Ladybug. I had this huge crush on Ladybug you, don’t get me wrong, but I _really_ liked _you_.”

He was babbling. He couldn’t believe it. This was so much harder than he’d ever imagined it being. He was used to standing half naked in front of rooms full of people, and yet, he’d never felt as bare as he felt now.

“Oh.” Her fingertips came up to cover her now rosy cheeks, “Then I should probably confess that I’ve liked you for…a long time, too.”

Adrien dropped to his knees in front of her and pulled her hands into his own, “You mean it?!”

She ducked her chin into her chest and tried to hide, but her face just refused to cooperate as a dopey grin broke out, “Yes.”

“You know what this means?!” he exclaimed. Marinette’s eyes widened at his sudden excitement and the rising volume of his voice, “Someday you might consider being my girlfriend, Marinette?”

She stared at him, baffled. Sometimes, Adrien was too dense for his own good. If she hadn’t been in such shock she’d have told him she would date him on the spot, perhaps with a nice swipe up the side of the head, but his giddy excitement at the prospect that she might return some of his feelings was enough to give her pause. It was sweet. “I don’t see why not.”

“I’m liking my chances!” he nodded enthusiastically.

Marinette groaned in exasperation and threw her arms around Adrien’s shoulders. At the same time he started to stand and it sent them both tumbling backwards onto her bed, “What am I going to do with you?”

Adrien used the tips of his toes, to leverage himself over Marinette, and settled next to her on his side. He laid his head on her pillow and gazed into her eyes as she turned to face him.

“You look ridiculously happy,” she grinned up at him and touched his nose in the way she’d done thousands of times before.

He reached up and kissed the tip of her finger, “That’s because I am.”

Marinette curled her hand into a fist and held it to her heart. Then she nuzzled her face into his chest, burying her head beneath his neck, “You’re a dork.” What she wanted to say was _I’m already yours._

As she cuddled closer to him, it was as if she’d flipped a switch. Chat’s purr roared to life. It was louder than she’d ever heard it and erratic in the way it bounced in his chest. She wrapped her arm around his back and pressed her ear to his suit.

He tensed, “I can’t help it.”

“I know.” She hummed contentedly and that just made him purr even more. Marinette giggled.

“This is ridiculous,” he coughed, “I should drop my transformation. It’s about to rattle my teeth out.”

She hummed and rubbed her cheek along the warm plane of black leather on his chest, “Don’t you dare.”

“Hey, Marinette?”

“Yes, Chat?”

“I’m new at this girl stuff. No, that’s an understatement. I’m _really_ new at this, as in I’ve never dated anyone, so I wondered if maybe you’d be interested in sort of trying it out some more? With me?” Adrien cringed internally. It was like he couldn’t speak today. His thoughts were all jumbled and he couldn’t get a complete thought out without sounding like an idiot.

Marinette’s eyes widened, ‘ _So, now is he asking me out?’_

Adrien dropped his eyes dejectedly. Outlook not so good. Maybe he could fix it.

“It could still be the same, you know? We could just play around with it and see what it’s like. I’m not saying we should officially date or anything, but the kind like we've been doing.” _Even though I’d really like to. Nothing is coming out right!_ He pouted to himself. He didn’t want it to be the same, though. “We shouldn’t tell Alya or Nino, since we would technically be ‘dating,’ you know?” _Please be okay with dating, even if we’re not actually a couple or anything, cause I’m a complete, incompetent basket case._

Marinette pulled back to look up at him. She’d rarely seen him look so vulnerable and flustered. It meant a lot to him to go slow, so that’s what they’d do. Instead of suggesting they actually be a couple she sighed, “I’m patient.” She gave him a reassuring smile and nudged his knee with her own.

He let out a relieved sigh, “Thank you, Marinette.”

“What would your father say?” she whispered as she nuzzled back into his chest.

Adrien stilled, “He’d kill me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adrien has a very bizarre view of dating, in case anyone is wondering. His whole 'relationship' concept is understandably a bit wonky.  
> 1) He has zero experience and doesn't want to screw up. He's being way-overly cautious.  
> 2) He thinks 'platonic dating' is a thing, even though it's not and that's NOT what he wants. He wants to thoroughly woo Marinette so everything can be perfect when they are 'official.' (The strive for perfection is a flaw at this point.)  
> 3) The sleigh ride is what he's considering their first 'official' date even if they didn't discuss it as such. Marinette is doing the same. At least they're on the same page, but neither one of them realizes they're reading the same book.  
> 4) Yes, they're dating. No, neither of them will allow themselves to think of the other as their boyfriend/girlfriend because they're awkward teens and this is how convoluted it really is folks. 
> 
> It's ridiculous; utterly, and completely, ridiculous. I know it and you know it. Silly teenage dramas. They're entertaining to us as we age, I think, because we've been there and we can appreciate the humor of it now.   
> **Although, truth be told, it doesn't get any better as adults. We just become more apathetic, read 'mature,' because we have to justify our blase attitudes about it. How boring?!


	13. Day 13: Frosty the Snowman

Marinette and Adrien chatted late into the night before he had to go home to take an antibiotic. It had officially been over twenty-four hours since he’d started antibiotics so he was no longer contagious. Although, Marinette still didn’t want to take the risk so he left without a good-bye kiss. She argued he’d already gotten a kiss from her, prematurely, under the mistletoe.

This morning, she awoke to the sound of her phone chiming. With a soft smile, knowing it was Adrien’s morning selfie, she opened the text message. Although, she was shocked to see it was NOT Adrien’s selfie. It was Alya and she wanted Marinette to get dressed so they could go sledding and build a snowman.

Marinette grinned and happily threw on a couple layers of clothes. This was a festive activity she could get behind.

She glanced out the window and saw, to her surprise, they’d had another couple of inches of snow on top of the remnants of their previous one. It was the perfect time to go sledding!

Well, when she arrived to meet her friends, she found them all busy trying to build the snowman Alya had mentioned. There was Alya, the director, while Adrien and Nino provided the muscle. Alya turned to face her when she arrived.

"Marinette! My girl! Okay, fellas, here's the muscles. I'm serious, my girl's stacked. Get in there and show them how it's done."

"Uh, sure," Marinette chuckled and climbed in between Nino and Adrien who were rolling a ball of snow half as tall as they were. It was ridiculously heavy. "Uh, can we roll this downhill by any chance? It would make it a lot easier."

"YES!" Adrien exclaimed, "Thank you! That's what I said about ten minutes ago, but noooo. Nino didn't think it was necessary because we're not building a very big snowman."

"We weren't," Nino huffed and glared at Alya.

Alya grinned, "Well, if you haven't noticed, there are no less than half a dozen photographers out here looking at your boy there. So...put your back into it and make him look good." She winked and gestured for him to keep pushing.

Marinette grumbled. She leaned in to Adrien and whispered, "Are there really photographers here?"

"Unfortunately," he gritted out through clinched teeth, "I guess building a snowman is the perfect winter cliche to plaster my face all over." He turned to glare at Alya, "I'm sure that's why Alya decided a snowman should happen before sledding."

"You think she set you up?" Marinette gasped in mock surprise before breaking out into snickers, "Oh, gosh, Adrien. You need to stop letting her bait you like that. You know she loves getting you publicity like this."

"Gah..." he grumbled, "Why am I friends with you people."

"Because we're awesome," Nino chimed in.

Adrien grinned, "Not even the half of it, but yeah, let's go with that." With a grunt, Adrien pushed hard and the ball budged. Marinette took that as her opening and supplied her own added oomph. The ball started to roll and Nino joined.

"Watch out below!" Alya called as the ball started to roll. It wasn't a very steep hill, but they couldn't stop the ball regardless if it decided to roll faster than anticipated.

It took another twenty minutes to get the middle portion up. The middle was quite a bit smaller than the bottom, but just about as difficult to make since they had to lift it up onto the top of the base. It took all three of them AND Alya to do it.

"Wow, guys, maybe a giant snow man wasn't such a great idea," Alya mused as they stared at the top of the middle ball. They'd be hard pressed to reach the top to get the head on.

"Let's gather the sticks for the arms and some rocks for the buttons, eyes, nose, and mouth," Nino suggested.

They gathered a few different sized branches that they could break apart to make the arms and a little pile of pebbles.

"Okay," Alya sighed, "I've made a head. Now how are we going to get it up there?"

"One of us is going to have to get up there," Nino shrugged, "I suggest putting Marinette on Adrien's shoulders. He's the tallest and she's the lightest. Easy peasy."

It sounded easy, sure, but Adrien and Marinette both stilled.

"Come on, guys. We don't have all day!" Alya complained.

Adrien grinned over apologetically at Marinette before kneeling down, "Uh, hop on?"

Marinette sighed, but did as she was told. Seeing his head between her legs left her mind to travel to places it ought not while balanced on his shoulders. In fact, probably a place it should never travel when in the company of others. Oh, lord, this was an awful idea, and yet, she couldn't resist the temptation to run her fingers through his hair just above his ears, but under his knit hat.

"Ready there, kit?" she whispered as Alya readied the giant snowball.

"Ready when you are, bug," he patted the outside of her thigh reassuringly before squeezing it once provocatively.

' _Oh, lord, don't do that,'_ she squealed, "Adrien! Stop!"

He chuckled, "Ticklish?"

"Something like that," she admitted.

Then there was Alya with a head. Marinette reached up to slide it onto the middle of the body and smiled. Perfect fit!

There wasn’t a whole lot she could remember from that moment, however. The next thing she was aware of was she and Alya being carted into the emergency ward.

Adrien shook with barely concealed laughter. His chuckles came out more like titters and chirps.

Marinette set her lips, but her stomach still quivered with her own stifled snickers. They’d been in a lot of rough tumbles as Ladybug and Chat Noir, even times they probably should have gone to the EW, and did their own triage and treatment at home.

That was as Ladybug and Chat Noir, when their worrywart friend Nino and accident prone friend Alya were not present.

Now, sitting in triage at the hospital, Marinette answered all the questions that came standard. Allergies, previous injuries, medications, etc.

“What injury did you sustain today?”

“I got a cut on my arm.” She held it up and the attendant smiled at her.

“Oh, yeah, we could get that patched up for you real quick. How did you get that?”

“Building a snowman,” Marinette grinned, “My friend Alya insisted I put the head on the top, but it was a bit heavier than we thought it would be. We might have gathered some sticks beforehand. I fell into her and she fell into the sticks.” She shrugged sheepishly.

“It’s odd to have this much snow,” the nurse mused, “I do love it. Could you send in your friend?”

“Sure!”

Marinette returned to the waiting room where Alya was fending off a nervous Nino.

“Let me look at it,” Nino whined, “Is there tingling or numbness? Do you need a drink? I’m—“

“Alya! You’re up.” She threw her thumb over her shoulder and grinned at Nino, “She’ll be fine.”

Marinette sat awkwardly next to Adrien. Ever since they’d had that talk last night it was like she was hyperaware of him in ways she’d never been before. They had this secret they were sharing, keeping from their best friends, who coincidentally both happened to be there. The pressure was so immense that they’d been avoiding eye contact with each other; except for when they both about lost it coming to the EW.

“So…?” She flinched at the sound of his voice. “What did they say?”

She rubbed her hands together and shrugged, “They’re going to bandage it up.”

He nodded, “Cool.”

“Cool.”

Nino rubbed his hands down his face and groaned, “This waiting is awful.” He glanced over at two very nonchalant friends and grimaced, “You guys can’t understand what it’s like.”

“What?” Her brows furrowed in confusion. What was Nino talking about? He was getting really worked up about it.

“Alya’s hurt.” He stood up and pointed towards the doors to the triage room where Alya was being checked out. “Did you see the gash on her arm? That could get infected. She could have septicemia and die! What would I do? I haven’t told her I love her.” He paused and scrunched his face up, “I’m not brave enough to, either, so don’t repeat that. It’s just…gah, I can’t do anything. I’m helpless. You just don’t understand. It is hard watching the love of your life facing danger, day after day, going into fight after fight, without any regard for her own well-being and then get taken down by a blood infection.”

Marinette hadn’t realized it, but she looked down and saw Adrien’s white knuckles as his hand clutched her own. She squeezed back reassuringly, but looked back at Nino. They knew this all too well. They faced the chance of the other getting injured, even killed, every time they fought an akuma. It hadn't been as emotional for them in the past, but now that they knew who the other was, as a person, it made the whole scenario more real. It wasn't Chat Noir and Ladybug, superheroes. It was Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng, best friends. They knew more and that mattered in shaping their new dynamics. They understood Nino's fear all too well.

“Nino,” she soothed, “Alya is going to be fine. She’s not going to die of septicemia.” She turned to Adrien sternly, “And neither am I.” Marinette sighed and turned back to Nino, “This is really just a minor thing, Nino. They’re probably going to give her a few stitches and send her right back to you.”

He dropped his face in his hands, “Well, excuse me if I don’t feel as optimistic as you. I’m just going to wait and see.”

Her brow rose automatically, “And be all up in her business until she’s healed?”

It took a moment for Nino to really grasp what Marinette was saying.

“She’d really _love_ that,” Adrien chuckled.

Nino thought about it, about Alya, and realized just how much she would _not_ love that. Also, that she’d be particularly angry with him if he were to hover like that. No, he wasn’t going to do that.

He nodded slowly, “Okay, yeah, I get it. I see your point. I’ll give her some space.” Then he stilled, “But I’m not going to like it. I’m still going to worry.”

Marinette grinned back at him, “Oh, Nino, I’d never have expected anything different.”

One of the perks of knowing someone, for as long as she’d known Nino, was that minute change in their body language that was as imperative to the content of the conversation as the words themselves. Nino was letting Marinette know, under no uncertain terms, was she to hide anything Alya told her about her condition from him. She wouldn’t, either. She’d be there to give him regular updates right down to the minute if she had the information to give.  
There was a creaking of a door, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng? Care to follow me?”

“Yes, ma’am.” She stood up and turned to the boys, “I’ll see you two later.”

Two stitches and a pretty bright pink bandage later and Marinette was ready to go home.

“Keep it covered for a five to seven days. When it’s healed, come on in, and we’ll remove the stitches.”

“Thank you!”

She returned to the waiting room to find only Adrien sitting there. She stared in confusion, “Wha—where is Nino?”

Adrien glanced up and grinned when he saw Marinette, “With Alya.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, “He said he’d give her space.”

“Alya saw he was a wreck and asked if he wanted to go,” Adrien bit his lip to keep from laughing. “I wish I’d had a picture.”

“Nino was probably beside himself with relief.”

“He sure was,” he nodded, “That’s an understatement. I think he forgot she was talking to him for a second. He spaced out on her.”

“Oh, Nino.” Marinette clicked her tongue and sighed. “What are we going to do with you.”

Adrien pursed his lips, “We can’t torture him as that’s frowned upon nowadays. Although, my father does have a collection of 17th and 18th century torture devices. I believe our guillotine is currently at the Musée d’Orsay on exhibit.”

Marinette’s eyes narrowed, “Why do I believe you’re not joking.”

Adrien stifled a chuckle, “Because I’m not.”

“UGH!” she groaned, “Why can’t I like a normal guy like everybody else.”

“Because I’m dashing, and charming, and ridiculously wealthy,” he gave her a cheesy grin and a wink.

“And an embarrassingly dorky spaz with an affinity for cats and a fudge fetish.”

“SHHH!” he hissed and glanced around exaggeratedly, “You could ruin my reputation with talk like that.”

“What, that you’re not all ‘ooh, look at me, I’m Adrien Agreste, famous fashion model and playboy.’”

Adrien smirked, “I’m not a playboy.”

Her brows rose, “You know that, and I know that, but not everyone else knows that. Plus, your behavior often does point to otherwise.”

“Touché,” he scoffed, “I cede to your point, My Lady.” His eyes glistened as they locked with her own.

 _‘Damn it! This was what I was hoping to avoid_ ,’ she inwardly groaned. He was doing that thing again where his charisma oozes out and snatches her good sense away from her. _Why did he want to go slow again_?

“Uh, yeah, cause I’m right,” she shook her head and looked away, but Adrien refused to be dissuaded.

“So…” he glanced nervously around the waiting room before leaning forward. He was so close that his breath tickled the small hairs just behind her ears. “Does this count as a date?”

Marinette blushed and wrung her hands nervously. She glanced over to him, then thinking better of it, turned away and huffed, “I don’t know. What do you think?”

“I think you have a boo-boo and need someone to kiss it,” he grinned.

“What? No. One, spit is full of germs, and two, you’re not my mom.”

“How about this then,” he gingerly took one of her hands in both of his larger ones and massaged the backs of her knuckles, “You got a boo-boo and need kisses to make it feel better?”

She gasped and turned to look at him fully now. His eyes were sparkling mischievously as he lifted her knuckles to his lips and placed repeated kisses there. As he did, he moved his lips up the back of her hand, to her wrist, up her forearm, and—

“I’m just concerned here, babe!”

They both broke apart as if they’d grabbed hot coals. Adrien scratched the back of his head and flushed scarlet.

Nino was walking backwards and turned to face them. “Women,” he complained with a glance to Adrien.

Adrien cleared his throat nervously, “Uh, yeah...” He sneaked a peek at Marinette, who was blushing just as furiously as he was, and grinned, “Women.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm afraid that tomorrow is likely to be my last chapter for the next week or so. I WILL try to catch up before Christmas if I get behind.
> 
> Thanks for reading! :)
> 
> **ALSO, just noticed...30,000+ words in thirteen days. W.T. actual F. happened. It does not feel like I've written that much. Page 80 of my word processing document says otherwise...heaven help me.


	14. Day 14: The Christmas Waltz

It was their traditional ‘very _merry_ unbirthday.’ Ladybug and Chat Noir had started a tradition, years ago, when they didn’t know who the other was. It was a way for them to celebrate their birthdays without actually sharing their birth date. Well, this year was a special one seeing as they did know who the other was now.  
Marinette squirmed in the middle of her floor with excitement as she wrapped her gift. They always gave each other themed gifts. Last year it was microorganisms, because Adrien got to pick, and this year it was Disney since Marinette was the chooser. They’d decided this last June, six months before their annual unbirthday party, so they had enough funding and time to plan for what they wanted to get the other.

“Tikki!” she squealed, “Adrien and I are having our very first very merry unbirthday together this year.”

“Uh, isn’t this the fourth annual very merry unbirthday?”

Marinette rolled her eyes and groaned, “Oh, Tikki, don’t be so daft. Of course it’s Ladybug and Chat Noir’s fourth annual, but this is Marinette and Adrien’s FIRST! It’s exciting…and special…and—oh, no, you don’t think he’s going to think I’m a lunatic for thinking so, do you? He might think I’m overreacting, or exaggerating, or making a big deal out of nothing. What if he just thinks I’m silly and decides he no longer wants to celebrate our unbirthdays because now we know who the other is? He’s going to cancel all of our unbirthdays!!!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on Marinette, I don’t think Adrien will cancel your unbirthdays. He’s been celebrating this with you for the last three years and he adores it as much as you do. I just thought it was just another unbirthday like the rest. My mistake.” Tikki grimaced and nuzzled into Marinette’s neck. She should have known, what with Marinette’s new odd behavior around Adrien, that she’d have a completely different reaction to this particular event. It was sort of a big deal with them.

There was suddenly a loud ‘thump’ from above and Marinette stood up excitedly, “he’s here, he’s here, he’s here!” she exclaimed as she ran up to unlatch the skylight.

They hadn’t seen each other all day. Adrien had a job, after all, and was especially busy during the holidays. Two days of antibiotics out of his strep infection and he was back into the modeling biz.

“Well hello, beautiful!” he purred as he dropped to the floor in front of her. Although, instead of straightening back up, like he normally would, he took a knee and wrapped his arms around her thighs to lift her into the air.

“AHH!” she shrieked, “Put me down!”

Adrien cackled like a mad man as he swung her around, jumping to her floor, as his steps falling into a traditional waltz, “Frosted window panes, candles gleaming inside, painted candy canes on the tree. Santa’s on his way, he’s filled his sleigh with things, things for you and for me. It’s that time of year when the world falls in love. Every song you hear seems to say, ‘Merry Christmas may your New Years dreams come true!’ And this song of mine in three quarter time wishes you and yours the same thing, too.” His humming continued as he danced around her room.

“What has gotten into you, you silly cat!” she giggled excitedly. She’d never seen him like this before. It was like he was a cat that had gotten into catnip or something. “You’re singing Christmas songs?”

“I don’t know!” he admitted happily, out of breath as he put her back on the floor, his arms resting gently around her shoulders, “You just do these things to me and I can’t help it. I felt like I was floating the whole way over here.”

“Have you been drinking?” Marinette sniffed as she lifted her nose up to his face.

Without a hesitation, he leaned down and placed a kiss on the tip of her nose. “Not a drop! I swear. I might be drunk, but alcohol has nothing to do with it,” he said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

“Nice song choice, by the way,” she grinned shyly as she pulled away from him to allow herself some breathing room. Well, that and some space so her brain could function. He was being so flirty and playful and she was confused. _Is this his idea of taking things slow?_

“It’s my favorite,” he confessed with continued humming of the chorus and dancing around her room.

Marinette jerked back to look at him so fast she almost fell; it could have been the dizziness from shock or lack of oxygen, it’s anyone’s guess.

“What?!”

Adrien’s humming and dancing paused as he turned to look at her, “What what?”

“That’s your favorite song?”

He grinned genuinely, soft and sincere, “My mother used to sing it to me when I was little. It was her favorite, too, and I guess that’s why it’s mine.”

“That’s my favorite Christmas song!” she said in shock, “What are the odds? Most people don’t even know— _The Christmas Waltz_ ,” they said in unison.

“It must be fate,” he grinned and stepped towards her. His fingers found her hand and lifted it to his lips, “My Lady.”

“You’re not messing with me? Talked to my parents?” No one else knew. Not even Alya.

He held his hand up and shook his head, “I swear. Cross my heart and hope to die.”

Marinette nodded quietly and bit her lip. She sent a side-long glance his direction a couple times before raising her fingertips to her lips, “We have the same favorite Christmas song, Chaton.” A huge smile spread across her face as she beamed over to him, “You’re the only one I have to share that with.”

A flash of green erupted in her room as Chat was replaced with Adrien, “And you have no idea how happy that makes me. See, I’m a bit of a scrooge, if you haven’t noticed. This is the first time since before…you know…that I’ve felt this way about Christmas. It’s like you’ve brought it back to me, Marinette, and I don’t have any idea how to feel about that. It’s surreal.”

Marinette felt her eyes misting over. She’d been trying to instill the joys of Christmas in Adrien since she noticed he was so hard set against being merry. Part of her feared she would fail, but now it was as if she’d actually filled him with happiness.

Like a freight train plowing through her she realized that this new side to Adrien was happiness. She’d never seen it before because she’d never seen him truly happy. She beamed up at him. “You’re happy!” she exclaimed as she threw her arms around his shoulders.

Adrien chuckled, “That is the general consensus I have reached, also, yes.”

“We need to celebrate!”

“A very merry unbirthday, of course,” he agreed.

“Of course!” she agreed happily, “How could I forget. A very merry unbirthday, minou.” She picked up her gift and presented it to him with a flourish, “Just for you”

Adrien tenderly took the package and stared at it, always grateful someone would think to buy him a gift, and he smiled, “You always give the best gifts.”

“You have to open it first.”

“No,” he shook his head, “The thought behind this is the only gift I would ever ask for, My Lady. The rest is icing on the cake.”

Marinette leaned against him and mumbled shyly, “Just open it before you get all mushy on me.” It was sweet how much he appreciated every generosity.

“Get mushy?” he held his hand to his chest and feigned insult, “Get implies I’m not already there.”

“Just open it!” she pled excitedly as she bounced on her toes in poorly concealed anticipation. It was like Adrien was drawing this out on purpose. He knew how impatient she was.

Adrien chuckled and began to peel each single piece of tape, very slowly, from the edges of the wrapping paper. Marinette grabbed a hold of her pigtails and grunted in frustration.

After what seemed like an eternity to Marinette, Adrien removed a cardboard box. Marinette cursed every decision she’d made with this gift when she put it in a box and taped it to be extra careful. Oh, why couldn’t she have just handed it to him sans wrapping?

“A box! I love it!” he exclaimed sarcastically.

“Just open that, too,” she groaned and bounced again excitedly, “Come on, Chaton.”

Adrien popped the tape on the sides, showing mercy to his awfully impatient companion, and lifted the lid. His eyes widened when he saw what was nestled inside of the box. He was rendered speechless.

Marinette squealed excitedly and danced around in front of him trying to get a look at his face. She couldn’t read him. He appeared to be dazed, but was he excited, surprised, happy, what?! Marinette knew he could buy everything in this box, but this was something she’d bought just for him. She never would have bought it for ‘Chat,’ but she jumped at the opportunity to buy it for Adrien.

“Tickets?” he whispered with reverence and pulled out a lanyard with a little zippered pocket at the end. On the lanyard were half a dozen pins and he gently ran his fingers over each and every one.

“It’s a family tradition,” she explained, “I mean, if you don’t want to, that’s okay, too. I just thought maybe you’d like to come with us.”

Adrien’s eyes widened and she saw them mist over. He didn’t even pull anything out of the box as he set it off to the side so he could wrap his arms around her in a bone crushing hug. Marinette could feel him almost shaking, “I’d love to go with you.” There was a moment of silence and just the sound of him breathing. His heart was beating rapidly. “I’m honored you’d invite me to participate in this family tradition.”

She grinned into his shoulder, “I’m so glad! I thought you might say no.”

“No?” he pulled back to look at her, wet eyes and all, pride be damned, “NO!?! Why would anyone say no to Disneyland?”

“Because…I don’t know. Rebelling against the corporation? Other obligations? They’re a communist? Or a Nazi? I don’t know.”

“I am NOT going to say no. I would LOVE to go. I haven’t been to Disneyland since I was a kid, a little kid, like six or seven. Maman and I took a special trip out during one of their spring flower events. I think that’s why spring is my favorite season now,” he explained.

“What are you doing for New Years Eve?”

Adrien shook his head and shrugged, “I don’t know. My schedule isn’t made out that far in advance.”

“Oh,” Marinette frowned and shifted on her feet. She’d hoped that maybe they could go to Disneyland for New Years. She already had plans to do Christmas at home with her family. “Oh, that reminds me! What are you doing for Christmas?”

Adrien thought about it, scrunching his face up in thought, “Uh, I’m not sure.”

“If your dad is busy or away you should come and spend it with us!” she grabbed his forearms and squeezed, “Please?! It’s a lot of fun. We stay in our pajamas ALL day. Maman makes her special crèpes with a chocolate sauce that is to die for while papa makes a strawberry and cream cheese filling.”

“If there’s nothing going on at my house,” which he doubted there would be, “I’ll be here.”

“GREAT!” she jumped up and down excitedly.

“Now open this,” he presented Marinette with a little box and she stared at it with anticipation. This was her unbirthday gift and she was so excited to see what he’d gotten for her.

She took the box and gingerly opened it. Inside was a little card with neat black handwriting, “Voucher: One Official Date with Adrien Agreste." Marinette’s mouth popped open and she glanced up at him. “Is this my gift?”

He fidgeted nervously and shifted from foot to foot, “Part of it?” Adrien blew his bangs out of his face and sighed, “I know I sort of implied we should ‘practice’ dating, but I really want to do it for real, someday. This is a voucher that says ‘I’m in’ and if you ever feel like you return the sentiment I want you to present that to me as your acceptance.”

Marinette started to open her mouth to say something, but Adrien interrupted her.

“You don’t have to answer me now. Actually, I feel like I’m going to be sick just seeing it in your hands, so I’d prefer it if you don’t. I just wanted you to know.”

Marinette smirked. He didn’t want her to answer him now. Would tomorrow work? In her head ‘ASAP’ had a nice feel to it.

“Okay,” she grinned and closed the little box he’d placed it in.

“And here’s your unbirthday gift,” he presented her with and envelope, “Great minds think alike. Although, I didn’t know what to get you so…”

Marinette looked at the envelope and laughed as she opened it to find a thick stack of Disney dollars. “You silly kitty,” she grinned, “You’ll have to help me spend it.”

“I’d love to.” He smirked, “But those go with the other gift I have for you.”

“There’s MORE?”

“I knew my bug was a die hard Disney fan. A few years back there was a promotional event where you could buy a stock certificate and Disney would print it off for you. I didn’t know your name so it’s been blank, for years, bug. YEARS! They don’t issue them anymore, so it’s special. It’s framed at home, right next to my own. Now that I know she's you, I can put your name on it.”

“A stock certificate? Is it real?”

“Sure is,” he grinned, “You are a Disney owner; a miniscule, microscopic portion, but an owner, nonetheless.”

“This is…so cool!” she exclaimed as she bounced on her tip toes. Before she could stop herself, overrun with excitement, she grabbed Adrien’s head and pulled his face towards her. The peck was on his cheek before she’d had a chance to process what she was doing. Her lips burned as soon as she felt his soft flesh beneath her lips.

She pulled back to look at him, to see what she’d done, and his reaction was stunned. His eyes were unfocused and Marinette sucked her lips into her teeth. That was unexpected for them both.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized, “I shouldn’t have attacked you like that.”

Adrien grinned dazedly, “I didn’t mind.”

“Thank you for the gift, Adrien.”

“You are very welcome, My Lady.” Adrien stumbled a step back and grinned, “Uh, I should probably head home and get that certificate for you. You might want to give me a while to _recover_ from that and get back to you. Want to wait up for me?”

Marinette smirked, “Take your time, Chaton.”

Without another word he was out the door and vaulting home.


	15. Day 15: Carol of the Bells

“We’re going caroling!!” Alya’s face lit up with glee, “Come on, Nino, you know you want to. Oooh, and Adrien, you have to come, too, cause someone has got to keep my girl warm.”

Adrien blushed and grinned over at Marinette. He remembered the peck on the cheek with vivid clarity as his skin still warmed there when he thought about it. There was a moment of deliberate concentration, where he was acutely aware of his hand sitting against his jean clad thigh, as he tried very hard not to lift it to his cheek.

“Yeah, I guess,” he shrugged nonchalantly, but his eyes flickered over to Marinette and flinched. She was looking at him. He spluttered, “If she wants me to, that is.”

Marinette glanced down at her fingers and smiled to herself, “Sure.”

“That settles it!”

“Settles what?” Nino asked in alarm as his eyes darted around the table, “What was decided? I didn’t agree to anything.”

“We’re caroling--let’s go. We have like ten minutes to get down to the school and Rose is not going to wait.”

“Wait, now?!”

They all stared at Alya as if she’d just grown a second head. She’d approached them all, asked what they were doing that afternoon, and launched into an all out attack.

“Yes, now!” she shrieked, “Now grab your coat.”

“But Adrien just got here,” Nino gestured behind him where his friend was lounging gracefully across his couch.

“Now he’s leaving,” she smirked, “Marinette just got here, too, but I’m dragging her along.”

“Actually, I’ve been with you all afternoon,” Marinette started before being shushed.

“That is beside the point,” Alya groaned, “What I am getting at is that we’re all going to be _late_ if we don’t get moving _now._ ”

“You’ve been with her all afternoon,” Adrien muttered through tight lips to Marinette who was sitting a few feet away from him while their friends bickered over how their evening was going to go.

“Um, yeah,” she nodded, “Alya’s sisters wanted me to come teach them how to frost cookies.”

“OKAY!!” Alya announced, interrupting any conversation that might have been evolving between Marinette and Adrien, “We’re going.”

Nino was grumbling as he pushed his fists into his sleeves. There was a little wet kiss mark on his cheek where Alya had laid a big fat wet one. Some how she’d convinced him to go caroling and bow out of a night of gaming with Adrien. It was something Nino had been planning as a way of sharing his time with his friend who was in great need of some company.

“All right,” Adrien nodded and stood. He turned around and reached out to offer Marinette his hand, “Shall we?”

She could hear the ‘My Lady’ in his voice and grinned, “Of course.”

They got to the school just as Rose was calling out for them all to leave.  
”Oh, you made it!” she squeaked, “I almost thought we were going to be out our best alto. Oooh, and you brought back up. Nino, what are you? Baritone? Base?”

“Eh, I don’t know? I don’t really sing much,” he shrugged.

“You sound like the low end of a baritone so why don’t you stand over here. I’ll make sure Alya’s by you. She’s an alto so she’d pair nicely with you. Adrien, what are you?”

“The last time I checked? My range was the mid-range baritone to mid-range tenor, but I can reach into the upper range of a tenor.”  
”I’m so glad you know!” she sighed happily, “Marinette’s a mezzo so just stand next to her.”

Marinette was already in her spot in the group and reaching for a binder with carols. “So?” she asked as he approached.

“I’m supposed to stand next to you,” he grinned, “You and me. I told you we were meant to be.” He waggled his eyebrows and Marinette rolled her eyes. He was such an adorable cheese ball and she loved it. It warmed her heart when he got all silly around her like this with a hint of something more. It was a thin line they were treading, but she was sure now that he’d be there to catch her if she fell. It felt like they were fast approaching that precipice where they couldn’t go back. It was intimidating, and scary, but exciting and exhilarating all at the same time. She felt both sick to her stomach and about to explode with jubilation simultaneously.

Marinette held her book out between her and Adrien as they marched up the streets. Their parts were highlighted in pink and green; soprano in pink, tenor in green, alto in orange, and bass in yellow. His warm hands came up to cup her own and she grinned up at him.

They were just outside of her family’s bakery when their singing parts started. She could feel Adrien’s voice rumbling through his chest just as strongly as she could hear it escaping his mouth. It was not unlike his purring as Chat Noir and she giggled through her lines.

“What?” he leaned down to whisper next to her.

“Your voice vibrates through you just like your purr,” she replied.

He grinned and continued to sing with more gusto so he could let her feel it boom through his chest even more, “Brightly shone the moon that night…”

Marinette did her best to concentrate on the caroling, but found her mind relentlessly wandering to the warm blonde singing next to her. Unconsciously, she dropped her head to lie against his shoulder as her voice rang through her to meld with his.

He sighed. This was perhaps the best unintended decision he’d had to make in a long time. His lady standing beside him, her head on his shoulder, her hands clasped in his own, and her beautiful voice intertwined with his own. He’d never experienced anything quite like it before, this level of connection with someone. It was extremely intimate, and yet, it felt so unusually natural.

Marinette grinned as her parents came out to join the groups of other patrons that had come to gather on the sidewalks and listen. They waved at the carolers, her mother wearing that damn knowing smirk, but Marinette didn’t have it in her to deny it anymore. She and Adrien each took a hand away from the binder to wave, the other two still clasped around the back, fingers touching, and holding it in place.

Adrien, as if bolstered by her mother’s expression, took away the hand that was holding the binder as his other returned, and wrapped it around Marinette to pull her closer to him and let his cheek rest on the top of her head. The grin that appeared on his face was one that could never grace the cover of any magazine, it was genuine.

A flash sparked through the crowd as Marinette caught sight of her father pointing his large camera lens their direction. They knew she’d be out caroling with Alya tonight and he’d planned to get some photographs; her father was an amateur photographer when he had time. What she hadn’t anticipated was the number of photos he ended up snapping. Luckily, after the third flash her direction, he decided to turn the dang thing off. There were spots across her vision and flashes when she blinked. Although, she could still see he was taking photographs by the cheerful look on his face as he tipped the viewing screen towards her mother.

There was a pause between songs, Rose held her hand up with the number two, and they turned the page to Carol of the Bells. Marinette burrowed further into Adrien’s side. She always broke out in goose bumps during this song. Part of it might be the candles they were now passing around. It was tradition to sing it over candlelight and Rose was a stickler for this particular tradition regardless of how much time it took to light them all throughout the group.

“I have a confession to make,” Adrien sighed, “I’ve never been caroling before.”

Marinette gasped softly. He was in for a treat. “Never?”

“I mean, I’ve sung carols before, at school and Christmas parties, but never out as a caroler.”

Marinette turned to face him fully, pressing the binder flat between them as he grinned up at him, “This is my favorite one! It gives me the chills, literally, and not because I’m cold.”

“I know this song,” he nodded, “I don’t think I ever sang it before.”

Marinette felt a nudge behind her and turned to see a candle being handed to her. She took two and handed one to Adrien. The fire was slowly being spread from the front towards the back. It would be there within a moment.

“We light these and sing over the firelight,” she grinned, “Without music.”

Adrien gulped, “I don’t know the words.”

“Don’t worry, Adrien,” her voice lowered in volume as she leaned towards him, “The first time you don’t have to know the words, you can just listen so you can _feel_ it. Then next time you’ll sing it and maybe spread some of that magic to another who is experiencing it for the first time. The first time is special, you know? It’ll only happen once. I still remember the first time I was standing in a group of carolers and they sang it. It’s a memory that I will always cherish as it comes back to me every year.”

Adrien nodded, “You really do love Christmas, Marinette.”

“I really do,” she nodded and held her candle out to her neighbor to catch the flame. Then she turned to Adrien with it and smiled. He was holding out his candle to her, to light it, and Marinette felt warmth in her chest. She was sharing more than just a theoretical fire this time. This flame was real.

His face was accented with the flickering of the light as the wick grasped at the flame, it danced across his cheekbones and into his hairline. His smile sparkled with anticipation. Without thinking, she let go of their binder, leaving it balanced in Adrien’s outstretched palm, and cupped his cheek.

“Merry Christmas, Adrien.”

“Merry Christmas, Marinette.”

He dropped his forehead to touch hers and she nuzzled his nose. “You can hum if you feel like it.”

“Mmmhmm,” he hummed in response.  
”To the song, silly,” she cooed. Her thumb rubbed his cheek lovingly and she felt it as he pressed his cheek into her touch.

“That, too,” he nodded.

Marinette felt warmth clear to her toes.

The voices around them suddenly got quiet and Rose held her hand up. Marinette glanced up at Adrien one last time before rushing to put her spare, non-lit hand on the binder. “Ding…dong…ding…dong,” the bass voices boomed.

She grinned as she prepared to sing her part, “Hark! how the bells, sweet silver bells all seem to say, ‘throw cares away.’”

Adrien’s eyes widened as the harmonies hit him full force in the chest. His candle was practically invisible with the way his vision was swimming. He did find himself humming part of the way through. The lyrics brought an automatic smile to his face.

When the final note on ‘dong’ rang out into the silence, followed by quiet clapping, Adrien knew the moment he could feel his heart beating again as it pounded heavily.

“So…”

He glanced down to see Marinette’s blue eyes gazing intently up at him.

“What did you think?”

“It was amazing!” he said excitedly, “I mean...” He held his hand out to show her the tremors and the goose bumps.

She held hers up to match, “Me, too.”

Then Adrien jumped as his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and frowned. Nathalie.

“My father wants me home.” He sighed in frustration. This was his night out with friends and he had a winter vacation to enjoy before school started again. Why couldn’t he just have a few days to himself?

“Now?”

“Yes,” he nodded when he saw the sedan pull up at the corner of the bakery. He was inconveniently tracked via a GPS in his phone. He’d have to remove the battery to avoid being found, unfortunately. It was an act he was intimately familiar with ever since he got his ring.

He quickly reached forward to wrap Marinette in a quick hug. Without thinking about it, he kissed her on the forehead and whispered, “I’ll text you tonight.” Then he turned and ran towards the sedan.

She nodded her head in an absentminded response as she focused on the kiss he’d placed just above her eyes. When did that become a thing? It was so nonchalant, like he’d been doing it for years. The back of her hand, yes, her forehead, no. This was new and exhilarating.

Alya was suddenly behind her, “Girl, where’s he going?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. Alya could tell something was up, though, as Marinette’s eyes were unfocused somewhere in the distance.

“What did he say?”

“Nothing.”

“Is he going home or what?”

“He got a text,” she said as if it explained everything.

Alya rolled her eyes, “Say no more, say no more.”

Marinette decided she wouldn’t move on with the rest of the caroling group and instead turned in for the night to await a text from Adrien. She waited in vain for three hours. Surely he hadn’t gone to bed.

10:03 PM Marinette to Adrien: You awake?

10:14 PM Marinette to Adrien: Are you okay?

10:16 PM Marinette to Adrien: Hello? Adrien? Are you there?

Her phone chimed.

10:18 PM Adrien to Marinette: I’m here. Yes, I’m awake. No, I’m not okay.

Marinette was up and calling spots on before she’d even worked out a plan in her head. All she knew was she needed to go check on him. That wasn’t a normal response from him. In her concern, she swung across the night towards the Agreste Estate.

She knocked on the window, but there was no response. It creaked as it gave way beneath the pressure of her fingertips and she let herself in.

“Adrien?” she whispered.

There was a loud ‘fwomp’ sound from his closet. Then a little black blob floated into her view.

“The kid’s not in the mood for visitors,” the Chat said with a frown.

“What’s going on?”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. He’s in a right foul mood and weepy to boot.”

“Weepy?”

“Crying? Sobbing? Leaking through the orbitals in his noggin?”

“I know what you meant,” she frowned. It wasn’t the way he’d said it, but what he’d said that worried her.

Marinette approached his closet and knocked on the frame before peeking her head in. She tried for a smile that immediately vanished at the sight of Adrien’s blotchy face and red puffy eyes.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as she reached out for him. He turned away from her and rubbed at his face.

“I’m going away. The plane leaves in an hour and I have to get packed.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m not sure. My father hasn’t given me more details than ‘you’re going’ and ‘I don’t care if you like it or not.’”

He was still facing away from her so she gently wrapped her arms around his waist, “Do you know how long you’ll be gone?”

Adrien sighed and let one of his hands drop down to cover one of her own. His voice cracked, “I don’t know.”

“It’s okay,” she clutched his hands in her own, “I’m sure you’ll come back to me as soon as you can.”

“To you?” he asked with a self-conscious chuckle.

“I’d hope so. Do you have another partner you have failed to tell me about?”

“No,” he shook his head, “I just thought…maybe…”

“Maybe I wanted you all to myself? Because you would be absolutely right about that, too.”

He smirked, “The way I want you?”

She walked around to his front and smiled up at him, “Adrien, let’s wait until you get back from this trip and we’ll talk.”

His face broke into an expression of joyful optimism at her words. They’d talk when he came back. Then he frowned, “What if I miss Christmas.”

She leaned forward and pressed her cheek to his chest, “That’s the greatest thing about Christmas, Adrien. There will be more.”

With a final parting hug, and a thumbs up as she jumped out the window, Ladybug headed back home. As she watched his house get smaller in the distance, she sighed, “I miss him already.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm playing catch up!! Just so you all know. I'll attempt to get caught up, but it's been a rough couple weeks. Big anxiety-inducing vacation last week.
> 
> **I'm also in a strange sense of deep melancholy. I don't get too horribly upset when people die, usually, especially not people I don't know. Although, this last week a young celeb killed himself in Seoul and I can't get him out of my head. I don't listen to the music, I'd never heard of him, and I find it particularly perplexing why it plagues me so. Fame is a fake and a thief. I hate tragedies, especially real ones.


	16. Day 16: Silent Night

Marinette slipped into her coat as she said goodbye to her parents. Alya and Nino had invited her out to their weekly coffee date.

“Nathanael, Luka, and Juleka will all be there,” Alya assured.

Marinette knew that Nathanael had had a crush on her back in college, but he’d since gotten over that pretty quick. They’d been trying for weeks to figure out who had caught his eye as of recent. He had been disappearing at odd hours, ducking out after text messages, to meet up with his secret guy or gal. It would be nice to see him again when he wasn’t ready to jump at a moment’s notice.

Rose and Juleka were in their early dating phase, but Rose had to work. She was one of the santa’s helpers elves down at the mall. Marinette had turned down an elf spot and was now regretting it since Adrien was gone. Oh, how she could use that extra pocket money right about now.

She walked through the cold streets on her way to the café they’d all agreed to meet in. Nino was already there with Nathanael, but Alya was running late.

“Where’s Alya?” Marinette asked absentmindedly.

“Editing,” Nino grumbled, “Something about being asked for a sample portfolio on all of her work for the ladyblog. Apparently, a news station wants to see her work.”

“That’s great! Why didn’t she tell me?” Marinette wondered aloud.

“Last minute,” Nino nodded, “Definitely last minute. She’ll be a little late tonight.”

They walked into the café and found Juleka and Luka waiting for them. It had been a couple years since Juleka and Luka agreed to go out together anywhere. They weren’t the closest of siblings, but they’d grown more amiable as of late. It was nice, really, since Marinette really enjoyed both of their company.

“Marni!” Luka exclaimed excitedly as he threw his arms around her shoulders, “I’m so glad you could make it!”

“You, too! I haven’t seen you for a while. How is university treating you?”

“It’s university,” he chuckled, “Nothing real interesting going on there. Sleep, go to class, eat, sleep some more, go to class, eat, sleep and repeat.”

“Sounds…fun,” she said with a nod. It sounded lonely. “Meet any new people?”

“Yeah,” he bobbed his head, “Not a whole lot. I don’t go out and party like most. Now, Julie here, she’s the party animal.”

Juleka’s eyes widened at the mention of her name, “What?!”

“You’re the party animal, aren’t you unnie?”

She rolled her eyes, “Don’t believe a word he says.”

“I get more chit-chat from random guys on campus every time she comes to visit.”

“Just because I’m invited out to parties doesn’t mean I go!” Juleka whined.

“Aww, Julie-woolie-woo-woo-woo,” he cooed and pinched her cheek. Juleka scrunched up her face and pushed him away, “Suddenly the popular girl we all knew she would be.”

“Too bad none of those guys are my type,” she sighed, “And I’m taken. Speaking of…” Juleka glanced down at her watch, “Rose said she might get off work early tonight so she’ll stop by if she can.”

Marinette sat down at the table between Nino and Nathanael. The conversation was amiable, but she couldn’t shake the hollow feeling in her gut that something was missing. It was like she was in the twilight zone. She was supposed to be having fun with her friends and it was almost Christmas. Why was she so blue?

Just then, the door to the café slammed open and they all turned to see a breathless Alya.

“GIRL!!” she shouted as she beelined for Marinette, “You’ll never guess.”

“A news station said they wanted to see your portfolio?”

Alya frowned, “Who told you?”

Nino held his hand up and slumped in his seat, “Guilty.”

She smirked, “You bad, bad boy. You’ll pay for that.”

Nino grinned, “I look forward to it.”

“EWWW, yuck, guys,” Marinette grimaced as her friends made it sexual yet again.

“Sorry,” Alya bit her lip and wiggled onto the bench between Nino and Marinette.

“Did you get it all done?” Marinette asked, “Because I could probably help you if you need it.”

Alya smirked, “No, no need.”

Marinette pulled her phone out of her pocket and glanced down at the display. No messages. No missed calls. She sighed and slipped it back into her pocket.

“You miss him,” Alya said with a nudge of her shoulder.

Marinette’s lips pressed together, “You can tell?”

“He’s been gone _one_ day,” Alya whispered with a sympathetic smile.

“I know,” she said dismally, “It’s pathetic, isn’t it?”

“A little,” Alya shrugged before wrapping an arm around her friend, “But I think it’s still sweet. Two sugar puffs like you were bound to find each other.”

“What if something happens while he’s gone?”

“Like if he meets another girl?”

Marinette rolled her eyes, “Psssh, he’s Adrien. I’m under no delusions that he doesn’t get hit on all the time, just look at Chloe. His fan clubs have fan clubs. I mean, honestly, I’m not under the impression he couldn’t be with just about any girl he wanted.”

“Touche. Then what is it?”

She sighed, “You’re going to think I’m silly. I guess I just have this odd dreadful feeling that something bad might happen.” _And I won’t be able to get to him in time to help._

Alya covered her mouth and snorted, “You guys are like an old married couple and you’re not even dating…yet!” Alya pointed at Marinette with the hand that had been over her mouth and shook her head, “I don’t know what’s taking that boy so long.”

Marinette blushed and hid her face.

“Marinette?” Alya stilled and stared at her, “If he’s asked you out you gotta tell me. I can’t believe you’d keep something like this from me. I _need_ to know!! Did he?”

“He gave me a card…” Marinette started and her eyes darted away evasively, “and it’s sort of a ‘ball is in my court’ situation.”

“Did he or didn’t he?”  
”I guess he _did_ in a round about sort of way…”

Alya bounced happily in her seat, “YES! I knew this would happen sooner or later.”

“I haven’t told him…Alya, what if something happens and I never get the chance to tell him?”

Alya waved her hand in front of her face, “Psssh, no. Nothing is going to happen and you need to calm down.”

Marinette’s anxiety was spiking. Everyone at the table could feel it as a tense silence fell across them all.

“Are you okay?” Nathanael asked gently. They hadn’t been privy to Alya and Marinette’s conversation, but they could tell by Marinette’s pallor that there was something happening with her.

“I don’t know. I guess. It’s complicated.”

Alya pulled out her phone and shook her head, “This is ridiculous girl. I was going to save this for later, but you look like you could use it now.”

Her phone appeared, as if by magic, in front of Marinette’s face and there was a ‘ringing’ symbol. Suddenly, as if kissed by angels himself, was Adrien’s smiling face. His hair was wet and damp where it hung limply into his face.

“Hey, beautiful!” he grinned and ran the towel through his hair once more, “I almost missed this call.” He glanced down at his watch and frowned, “Alya said 7:00.”

Alya peeked in to wave at him, “Our girl was having a minor freak out so I got desperate.”

Adrien’s eyes softened as he looked at Marinette, “You miss me.”

Her eyes widened as she glanced around the table of interested faces, “Of course I do, you goofus. There’s a bunch of us here that miss you tonight. Say hi!”

She turned the phone panned around the table. Their eyes widened at his bedraggled, wet appearance that Marinette had somehow gotten accustomed to in a short time. It was a look she’d seen on him often enough. They all looked a bit shell-shocked.

When she brought the phone back she could see Adrien with his tongue in his cheek as if attempting not to laugh. She widened her eyes and tipped her head down conveying the ‘there are a lot of witnesses’ message to him discreetly.

He chuckled and his eyes sparkled at her ‘bug eyes,’ as he’d termed her chastising and warning expressions. When she directed them his direction he always got an excited sense of intimacy between them. It was delightful, but he’d never tell her that. No, no, no.

“Sorry,” he mouthed. Then louder, “How is everything?”

“Okay, I guess. It’s good to get to see you.”

He shot her two thumbs up, “Same.”

“Any news on when you get to come home?”

“Eh, no, not yet,” he shrugged, “Just fittings today. No photoshoots, though! I haven’t even seen one scheduled.”

“That’s odd, isn’t it?”

He shrugged, “No, not really if they’re planning far ahead.” Then he put his lip between his teeth and frowned. He was being fitted for festive wear like for New Years and Christmas. They couldn’t be preparing too far in advance since that was like a week and a half away. Plus, the garish wear they were making him wasn’t going to sell.

“I guess I’ll just have to wait and see. Can I call you tonight?” _When we’re alone._

“Yes!” he beamed, “Please do!”

“Okay. I’ll hand you back to Alya.”

That evening, after a lonely night without him, but his phone call helping, she hurried home to call him again.

The phone only rang once before she heard his soft voice on the other end, “Princess?”

She giggled, “Kitty?”

“I’m so glad you called,” he whispered.

Marinette immediately felt alarmed. Earlier he’d been so happy to talk to them all, been in good spirits and everything, but now there was an edge to his voice; a sadness. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he sniffed, “Fine. You?”

She could hear his fake smile through the phone. “Adrien, you don’t have to fake it for me. What’s wrong?” There was a pause, “And don’t you dare say you’re fine.”

He sighed, “I’m just lonely, that’s all.”

“Lonely? That’s all? That sucks, Adrien! You should have called me. I’d have dropped everything to talk to you.”

“I didn’t want to interrupt. I’m being a baby anyway.”

“No, you’re not,” she frowned and glared at her phone, “You need to stop wearing your smile like a shield when it doesn’t fit you. One of these days someone will launch a barb at you and it’ll be worthless at protecting you.”

“That already happens, Marinette,” he sighed sadly.

“Yeah?”

“People say hurtful things to me in jest all the time,” he sighed.

“It hurts, doesn’t it?”

“Yes,” he confessed.

Something came to mind and she blurted it out, “Like that interview you gave in La Mode?” He was silent and she could tell she’d hit the target. The interviewing panel had asked about Adrien’s love life, his dreams, his current outlook on life, and where he saw himself in ten years. When he said he wanted to be married and have a family they all started joking with him about how one, he’d never get approval for that from his father, and second, how he’d have to quit modeling all together because his fan girls wouldn’t be there for him anymore. They told him it would never happen, but that’s why they were called dreams, right? She knew it had hurt him even at the time, but Adrien just smiled and laughed through it with a mumbled, ‘Yeah, yeah, I guess you’re right.’

You don’t say that kind of crap to a fourteen year old kid.

“Ouch, Marinette,” he grumbled from the other side of the phone. It had been a couple years and he obviously didn’t worry about it much now, but it was still a sore spot as indicated by his hesitance to react. He’d spent months wondering about the things they’d said and felt hopeless at the prospect of never being in control or having anything to offer the world other than his face. He was miserable.

“You should live your life for you, Adrien, and screw what everyone else thinks. It’s scary, that unknown, but you can do it. I have faith in you. You work so hard you should at least get to enjoy the rewards for all your efforts.”

“Thanks, Marinette. I really needed to hear that.”

“Good! Feeling better?”

“Yeah. I am a little tired now. Let’s just hope I can get some sleep. I couldn’t last night, but I have a feeling it’ll be better tonight, you know?”

“Yep. Good night, Adrien.”

“Good night, Marinette. And thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. Muah!”

She hung up and stared at her phone, sad that all her work to keep Adrien in good spirits was evaporating and he was left sad and alone at Christmas. Oh, how she disliked his father right now. It was Christmas for Pete's sake! This just meant she'd have to work twice as hard as soon as he came back. Adrien was the most deserving of happiness than anyone else she knew, and his sadness was heartbreaking. It was not acceptable.


	17. Day 17: Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)

 Today was torturous for Adrien. He woke up, walked into the common room, and noticed a group of people already waiting for him. It was going to be one of _those_ days. Here he thought they weren’t doing photoshoots.

He plopped down in a chair and groaned as two make up artists immediately jumped towards him and started taking down notes on his appearance.

With each little tick of their pencils and ominously mumbled ‘oooh, si,’ he was thankful he didn’t speak much Spanish. He knew this part all too well. This was the part where they analyzed ever little flaw he had and discussed how to combat against it for the shoot.

One time, after going with his friends to the beach, he’d gotten a dressing down in front of a whole room of models for a tan line and a complexion shift. Apparently, none of the makeup they had matched his new skin tone. Adrien’s make up was all prepared in advance, per records, and they had to start completely from scratch that day. He hated the glares and dirty looks he got. Heaven forbid he go out with his friends and have fun. He _had_ worn a rash guard, sunscreen, and a hat, but apparently rays reflect off of the water to an extent. Thankfully, those people were mostly Russians and he didn’t understand a lick of that, either.

He heard the nervous clearing of a throat, “M. Agreste?”

He peeked up to see a young woman, probably twenty-three, with black hair, bronze skin, and deep olive eyes. She nervously shifted and bounced a clipboard in her hands.

“Yes?” he answered.

“Your father would like to see you.”

Her accent was heavy, but he understood, “My father? Where is he?”

“The room at the end of the hall,” she nodded in the direction towards the hallway.

His father hadn’t come with him the first night, but apparently had landed sometime between then and now.

Adrien got up out of the chair, the man and woman huffing as he retreated, and he approached the door cautiously. Outside, it appeared the bouquets had been meticulously harvested to only contain shades of white, red, and violet. Typical.

He knocked.

“Enter.”

Adrien cracked the door open and peeked inside. His father stood at the far end of the room overlooking the courtyard of the hotel. Adrien stepped in and pushed the door shut with a quiet ‘click.’

“You asked to see me, father?”

“Yes, Adrien, sit,” his father gestured to the little chair in his hotel room and took the one across from him.

Gabriel crossed his legs, one knee over the other, and clasped his hands on top. There was a bit of a tense breath before Adrien realized his father was frustrated.

“I realize this is an absurd request,” Gabriel clicked his tongue and glanced away, “But I’m afraid my partners have overruled me on this one.”

“Overruled you?” Adrien was under the impression his father still owned 70+% of the stock in the company. How could he be overruled?

“Perhaps that was not the correct term,” he shook his head, “It was a unanimous vote aside from my own. They want to have a ‘Gabriel Santa’ exhibition in our Gabriel store. They originally requested that I go out and meet with customers, which will not happen regardless of a unanimous vote, but we did compromise…”

“With me,” Adrien nodded.

“It isn’t really a big deal, Adrien. They have agreed to allow some anonymity. It is purely a PR pitch, really. You will dress as a Santa Claus and meet our patrons for a day. That’s all. They’ll announce your identity the next day. No advertising or anything, but I’m not guaranteeing someone will not find out and you’ll be overrun with your _adoring_ fans.”

The way he spat ‘adoring’ let Adrien know his father at least cared enough to be on his side as far as that was concerned.

“This has all been about publicity?” Adrien asked, baffled. This was a hell of an ill timed, bad taste publicity stunt.

“Yes and no,” Gabriel shook his head, “Our partner is releasing a new line of festive jewelry that you will wear with the Santa costume at the mall. We’ll have photographers there to take photos for advertising purposes.”

“So I’m being a Santa while doing a photoshoot?”

“Yes,” Gabriel nodded, “But no one will know. Just be yourself and let the photographers do their job.”

Adrien pursed his lips.  
”Adrien,” Gabriel pandered, “We’re not going to discuss this. I have final decision and you will be Santa.”

 “Is there a Mrs. Claus.”

“Of course,” Gabriel’s eyes lit up and he almost smiled, “Naturally, we have a Mrs. Claus lined up.”

 _Great._ He thought to himself dismally. His luck was the worst with modeling partners. In his experience, being Adrien, they paired him up with models that weren’t going to outshine him, but still had egos the size of countries.

* * *

Marinette settled on her chaise and pulled out a magazine. Coincidentally, this one had a smiling picture of Adrien on it. Her fingers ghosted over the picture and she smiled. “I hope you’re not lonely today, mon minou.”

Her entire day had been spent helping out in the bakery. It had been torturous to see all the couples coming in, smiling, hugging, sharing desserts and dressed in their festive wear. She remembered the look on his face when he’d landed in her room and waltzed her around her room; him singing The Christmas Waltz as they spun and laughed with each other. Today, she couldn’t find her Christmas cheer anywhere, not even with her mother singing in the kitchen, and it appeared Adrien had taken it to Barcelona with him. Oh how she wished he would come back home.

As if on cue, her phone started ringing.

“Hello?” she answered excitedly.

“Hey, girl!!” Alya said. Alya flopped down onto her bed. A mischievous smirk flitted across her face, “You thought I was Adrien, didn’t you?”  
”No! No. I didn’t check the caller ID, but I had sort of hoped…” she confessed.

Alya cackled, “That’s adorable.”

“Can you chill out a little? He’s Adrien.”

“Yeeeaah,” Alya drawled, “He’s _Adrien_. What about it?”

“There are a lot of considerations to go into this.”

“You love him, though, right?”

Marinette bit her quivering lip. It wasn’t that simple, but yes. “Yes.”

“Then what’s stopping you?”

“Oh, you know, thousands of angry fans, no privacy, a controlling father…I don’t know what could give me pause.”

“It’s love, Marinette. You have to make some sacrifices if you truly love him.”

“I know,” Marinette nodded silently to herself, “I didn’t say I wasn’t going to go out with him. I just need a while to wrap my head around it.” _And I’m afraid our working relationship might change more than it already has._

“Great! Cause Nino said he can’t shut up about you,” Alya chuckled. “The boy has it _bad_. Just like you always wanted, right?”

“Right,” Marinette nodded. She knew Adrien liked her, they’d had that conversation already, he’d given her a ‘redeem whenever’ card to let her know he was waiting for her. It’s just surreal everything that happened in the last few months in their relationship. Everyone had noticed, but now they were really going to notice if they started dating.

“You should go to bed, girl. I can hear your brain over thinking all the way over here. It might be a long night. Oooh, or Call Adrien. I’m sure he’s done working by now.”  
Marinette glanced over at the clock and realized the day had flown by while she was absorbed in her thoughts. It was already time for supper. Her parents would be calling her down any minute.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Marinette! Supper time!”

“Okay, Alya, I’m being summoned.”

“Go on and have a great night.”

“You, too. Bye!”

Marinette went down to eat with her parents and forgot all about calling Adrien until it was late. She got up to her room, after a couple hours of beating her dad at video games, to find her phone lighting up with text notifications.

“Crap!” she exclaimed as she launched towards her bed. She’d forgotten her phone up here all night.

Four unopened text message from Adrien.

**6:46 PM From Adrien: Are you around?**

**6:51 PM From Adrien: I guess not. Care if I talk to you anyway as if you were?**

**6:54 PM From Adrien: We’re working on a new festive project. You’d love it.**

**7:22 PM From Adrien: I wish you were here. Text me when you get this, no matter the time.**

**9:48 PM To Adrien: Adrien! I’m so sorry I missed your texts. Do you want to call and chat or just text?**

**9:50 PM To Adrien: I wish you were here, too. How are you today?**

**9:52 PM From Adrien: I want to hear your voice.**

As soon as she’d read the text her phone started ringing.

“Well, hello there, handsome.”

“Hi,” he replied. You could hear the smile in his voice. “You might want to go easy on the compliments, though, or I might get a big head.”

“If anyone deserves to have their ego stroked, it’s you, so hush.”

He let out a very unmanly, high pitched chuckle, “Stop.”

“You’re blushing, aren’t you?”

“NO!” he exclaimed, “Maybe. Yes. Just a little. Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything,” she grinned.

“You didn’t have to,” he grumbled, “I can almost see the smug look on your face.”

“We’re on the phone!”

“I have a vivid imagination, okay?” he said with a snort.

Marinette leaned across her desk and brought her monitor to life with the click of a button. The static hum dissipated and she was left with an embarrassing collage of photographs of Adrien. “You’re going to need some imagination there, kittaroo.”

“Kittaroo?” he laughed at her new nickname. “What do I need my imagination for?”

“Just use your imagination, okay? I’m going to send you series of e-mails to keep you company tonight and maybe you can reminisce a little, too.”

“Marinette…?” he asked worriedly.

“Nothing bad,” she said, “I just was going through some of my stuff and thought you might want to take a walk down memory lane. I realize not all your memories are bright ones, but I hope these ones are. Now that you know, what you know, it might shed a new light on some things.”

* * *

Her evasiveness was unsettling. Adrien leaned back on his hotel bed and chewed his lip nervously. “Am I going to like the new light?”

She began to giggle hysterically and gasped, “I sure hope so.”

Her first photo was one of Adrien in his Chat suit at about fifteen. He’d grown four inches that summer and Plagg had been reshaping his suit to fit his new, fuller body. His muscles, and other parts, were much more pronounced to the point that Tikki had to intervene by going to Adrien’s house and having a talk with Plagg about not embarrassing the boy. Marinette only learned of the story the day before as Tikki tried to cheer her up.

He was standing in his black suit, a much tighter and form fitting than it should be, and his face had noticeable stubble and his hair was messier than usual. It had been a night akuma and Alya managed to snap this one during the fight. His legs had been firmly planted and he was standing with his legs as close together as possible so as not to ‘accentuate the positives’ on film, but then the akuma knocked him off kilter just as Alya snapped the shot. Marinette got a chuckle out of it at his expense for the longest time. Yesterday, she had trouble looking at it without blushing because now she knew who he was. She had a completely different view of the situation.

Although, the conversation afterwards had come back to her with shocking clarity, and this was what she hoped would bring Adrien some entertainment for the evening. Yes, at her expense. It was so different to look back on all their interactions with Adrien in the place of Chat. They had talked about so many ‘off limits’ things with her civilian friends; like developmental milestones and concerns. She realized, last night, just how intimately they knew each other.

For one, for the longest time Chat was concerned about his lack of body hair. Of course, Adrien would never have appeared concerned and brought it up to his dad or anyone. Hair was one of those things they wanted to avoid, and he’d have to shave all the time, but he was concerned he might be behind developmentally, regardless of other advancements. She’d calmed him and suggested that maybe he was just a late bloomer. After all, she’d only heard most guys who needed to shave lament it more than not. Fast forward a couple years, Adrien gets laser treatments to minimize the need to shave because it causes his skin to get rashes and ingrown hairs.

She wouldn’t let him sit there mortified alone, no. She’d send a couple pictures from some sensitive times in her own life. There was an akuma attack where she had gotten hit across the chest with a large pole. Normally, through the suit, that wouldn’t be a thing. It wasn’t that it ‘hurt,’ but it vibrated through her ‘new developments’ in a way that took her breath away. Chat assured her that it was temporary and proceeded to tell her that the pain was not without gain. He topped it all off with a waggle of his eyebrows and a suggestive wink to let her know he was not complaining about how she was filling out.

Yes, he’d spend tonight perusing past photos with new eyes and maybe some laughs. When Tikki insisted they go through the photos last night, in the darkness of her lonely room, she realized just how much she needed it. Never would she have ever anticipated enjoying it as much as she actually did. Chat being Adrien had turned Marinette’s world upside down, but in the best of ways.

“Okay, I sent it,” she said, “Don’t look at it now. I want you to have a chance to look them over with Plagg. You can talk to me about it later.”

“What is it?”

“Photos.”

There was an intake of breath and a pause before Adrien hummed evocatively, “Really?”

“Down, tiger,” she chuckled, “Nothing you haven’t seen before.”

She heard the huffed pout from the other end and grinned. Silly kitty.

“Way to get a guy’s hopes up.”

“And what, pray tell, did you hope to see?” she crooned.

There was a slight spluttering, followed by a cough and a pounding noise. “Wrong pipe. Whew, ow.”

“Were you drinking?”

“Trying.” There was a slirping sound and Marinette could imagine him wiping at his lip and trying to not make a bigger mess than he already had.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. By the way, I just wanted to see you.”

“You’re in luck! There are a couple of me.”

“Great! Uh, Marinette, I have an early morning tomorrow. I hate to cut this short, but I probably need to go to bed.”

“You also want to look at that e-mail I sent you, huh?”

“That too,” he chuckled.

“Hey, Adrien?”

“Yeah?”

“Come home soon, okay?”

Adrien could swear his vision blurred slightly. She missed him and he couldn’t be more thrilled. “I will try.”

“Go ahead and look at that e-mail. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Good night, Adrien.”

“Night, Marinette.”

He kissed at the phone and heard one back before hitting ‘end.’

Adrien spent the next half hour cackling, blushing, and squirming as he looked through the photos Marinette had sent him. He remembered all the interactions for the photos she’d included and she was right. His imagination was going in filling everything in now, thanks to knowing who Marinette was, just thinking about how she was as a civilian at the time. He couldn’t remember it all clearly, but he was aware enough of her life at the time, and could distinctly remember times that she might have followed his advice or taken comfort in what he’d said to her. It made him extremely happy! Marinette truly was his best friend. He just hoped that soon she’d want to be his girlfriend, too.


	18. Day 18: I'll Be Home for Christmas

It was barely 7:30 in the morning when Marinette heard her phone blasting the ring tone she’d set for Adrien. _Crap! What could be the matter?!_

“Hello?” she answered groggily. Her hair flipped in front of her face as she rolled over to get more comfortable. She spluttered as a few strands ended up in her mouth.

“Did I wake you up?” he asked suddenly.

“Yup,” she nodded.

“Oh, crap, I’m sorry,” he exclaimed, “I just…wow, well, now I feel sheepish.”

“Adrien, you woke me up at…”she pulled the phone away from her face to look at the time, “7:30 in the morning. I’m awake now so what do you need?”

“It was just that e-mail, Marinette.” He paused and blew his bangs out of his face. Plagg was snarfing down a pile of camembert slices he’d had to hoard from the catering people the day before. He was due down in the lobby at 8:00 and wouldn’t have another chance to call her and pounced on this opportunity.

Marinette hummed knowingly, “Pretty funny, huh?”

“Oh, my lord!!! You have no idea. That one of me wobbling on the edge of that roof? Why do you have that?!?! That picture needs to be destroyed, all copies deleted, and the cards melted down.”

Marinette snorted, “No way! No one knows it’s you, anyhow, except me. It’s our own little secret. Plus, when it’s not so fresh you might find it as funny as I do.”

“Thanks,” he grumbled, “For laughing at my expense.”

“You have to admit that it’s a pretty awesome picture.”

Adrien picked up a pen and flipped it between his fingers, “If awesome means humiliating, then yes. Yes it is pretty _awesome_.”

“Oooh, poor baby.”

Adrien’s voice dropped, and he contemplated not saying anything at all, “You can _see_ everything.”

“Whew, Kitty, I knoooow,” she drawled seductively, “And you have nothing to be worried about, developmentally delayed, my ass.”

Adrien let out a whiny laugh like he was in pain, “Holy shit! I forgot all about that. You realize I can’t ever let you date or be with anyone else, ever. You know too much.”

“And you don’t?” she gasped in disbelief, “That’s a two-way street, Kittaroo.”

“Where the heck did that nickname come from?”

“What? You don’t like it? It’s not much worse than ‘Bugaboo.”

“Bugaboo is cute and you know it.”  
Marinette’s heart fluttered when he said ‘cute’ for some reason. She couldn’t help it. “Kittaroo is cute, too.”

“Yes, but I’m not,” he said.

“You’re saying I’m cute?”

“Yes,” he nodded, “That is exactly what I’m saying.”

“And you’re not?”

Adrien grumbled, “I’m handsome, or hot, or or sexy, but not _cute._ ”

“You, Adrien Agreste, have just proven to me that you are absolutely cute. If that wasn’t cute then I don’t know what is.”

“I repeat, I can’t let you be with anyone else.”

Marinette cackled, “No fear! You don’t have to worry your pretty little head about that any time soon.”

He clicked his tongue and leaned back in his seat, “Does that mean you’ll be redeeming your offer for a once in a lifetime investment in the one-of-a-kind, and original Adrien Agreste?”

“I hate that you advertise yourself,” she grumbled.

Adrien busted up laughing, “HA! You should know it’s a coping mechanism by now, Marinette.”

She smirked, “Yes, but I still hate it.”

“Well, consider me a work in progress.”

Marinette twirled her hair and sighed. That was the truest statement she thinks she’s ever heard come out of his mouth. “Deal.”

“My self-deprecating sense of humor is probably not going to go away,” he warned.

“I know,” she nodded, “I don’t want your sense of humor to go away. I just wish your self-deprecation would be aimed at your incessant puns and inability to be professional at the right times during fights.”

There was a long silence before they both burst out laughing.  
”Whoa, Marinette! BURN! Ouch. I still feel it,” he chuckled and placed a hand to his chest. “You love my puns, and you know it.”

“I do,” she admitted, “But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t rather you redirect that dislike of yourself to thinks that are actually a problem. It’s not just the puns, but when you decide to employ them.”

Adrien nodded in agreement. She actually did have a point. He could remember too many times that a pun got himself in trouble because he was distracted and Marinette had to intervene. “Noted.” Adrien glanced over at the clock on his bedside table and groaned, “Well, hell. Marinette, I’m going to have to cut this short. I’m sorry I woke you up, but I have somewhere I need to be and I still have to get ready. We’ll talk again soon?”

“Yes, absolutely, and it’s fine that you woke me up. I’m sure my parents would thank you.”

“I’ll make it up to you!” he insisted.

“You better.”

“I’ll talk to you later, Mari…I miss you.”

Aww, minou. She pressed a hand to her chest, “I miss you, too, and I’ll talk to you later. I’m hugging you in spirit!”

“Hugs to you, My Lady. Have a great day!”

“You, too. Bye!”

“Bye!”

Marinette sat up on her bed and threw her blankets off to start her day. It would be a long one. Luckily, Alya would be coming over to make some springerles for her family’s tree. It would be a nice distraction and they needed to dry overnight so they could bake them tomorrow.

* * *

“You were up awfully early today,” her mom mused just after lunch. “Did you have a bad night?”

Marinette had used her being exhausted during the mornings after late akuma attacks as ‘having a bad night’ to imply that she had bad dreams. Although, no, that wasn’t the case here.

“What time did you get up, girl?” Alya asked in curiosity.

“I, uh, got a phone call at 7:30 and then I got up after.”

Marinette really wished her best friend and mom would just let it go, but there was this look on Alya’s face that told her it was in vain.

“Wrong number?” her mom asked quizzically over her cup of coffee. It was like her mother was trying to help her, but the sparkle behind her eyes told her the question was more of a joke than anything. Perhaps an out to avoid Alya.

“I bet it was our favorite blonde kitten.”

There was a spluttering sound from the table where Sabine choked on her coffee.

“You okay, mama?” Marinette rushed to her mother’s side and patted her back roughly. “You’re supposed to swallow and THEN breathe.”

“S-sorry,” her mom choked, “It went down the wrong pipe.”

Marinette ran to the kitchen to get a wet rag and came back to the table to wipe up the coffee splatters from the table top. As her mother’s eyes met her own, she winked. Marinette stilled before her mother’s hand gently rested on her own to resume the wiping. She smirked at her mom. Oh, she was such a sly woman. “How is that springerle dough coming along?” Sabine called to Alya who was stirring a stiff dough in a bowl on the counter.

“I don’t know. I’m not a baker, Mme. C. My mom doesn’t, either. She has a pastry chef for this stuff.”

“Ah, yes, well I have a pastry chef for a husband, but I can help you,” Sabine chuckled as she scuttled over to the small apartment kitchen. “If we get real hard up for help you can always go downstairs. I’m sure Tom would take a moment to help you out.”

“Oh, for the love of…” Marinette groaned and walked over to the kitchen.

“Or we could ask, Marinette,” Sabine grinned.

“What am I, chopped liver, mama?”

Sabine chuckled, “I didn’t want to volunteer your services for you. I have a contract on that man downstairs.”

Marinette chuckled, “Yes, well.”

“And you’re my sweet, _honest_ , and modest girl.” She winked again.

Marinette pursed her lips. Her mother was being particularly mischievous today. And what was she playing at? _I’m honest._

“I think this looks fine,” Marinette mumbled as she tried to ignore her mother’s peculiar behavior. She could ponder over that later.

“Ready to go!” Alya cheered, “Looks like I’m just gifted in this whole baking stuff.”

“Or that you know how to follow a recipe,” Marinette smirked and nudged her friend with her shoulder.  
”Or that,” Alya nodded, “Yes, I suppose that helps.”

Sabine appeared with a rolling pin. It was wooden and had multiple intricately carved designs in it. There were deep ridges between them all to separate it into individual squares as you rolled it over the dough. She handed it to Alya, “If you would like, you can use this. If you have some special family designs that you brought with you.”

“No, ma’am, these will be perfect,” Alya took the pin and set it next to the marble one she was going to use to roll the dough out initially.

“Where did the springerle tradition come from, Alya?” Sabine asked.

“Alya’s great-great-grandmother was Bavarian,” Marinette chirped.

“That,” Alya gave her friend an _I can tell it_ look, “Actually, my grandma used to make them when my mom was a little girl. My mom said something about it the other day and I remembered Marinette saying you make them down in the bakery.”

“Alya didn’t want to buy them,” Marinette elaborated to her mom’s blank look, “She wanted to make them so they were special.”

A smile broke out across Sabine’s face and she wrapped an arm around Alya in a side hug, “You’re such a sweet girl, Alya. Marinette is so lucky to have found a friend like you.”

“I’d say we compliment each other pretty well in that way,” Alya jerked her chin in Marinette’s direction, “Right, boo?”

“What the heck is up with that nickname?!” Marinette exclaimed as she threw her hands up in the air in resignation.

“Well, Adrien called you Mariboo and I think ‘boo’ just stuck.”

“Boo…boo,” Sabine tried it out on her tongue and grinned, “I like it.”

“Et tu, maman!” Marinette groaned and dramatically clutched at her chest. “I’m going to the living room where I’m loved…by no one.”

Alya and Sabine grinned at her dramatics.

Marinette flopped down onto the couch while her mother and best friend kept making cookies. She opened the screen to see that she’d missed a phone call at 12:45 from Adrien. Her phone had been on silent while she ate lunch per the rules set by her parents. Now, she wished she’d checked it earlier.

“I’m going to go make a phone call real quick,” she called into the kitchen and headed for the stairs to her room.

“Okay, honey!”

“Yeah, no problem,” Alya added with a wink.

Marinette got to her room and was already pushing ‘call.’

“Hello! Long time no talk!” he answered.  
”We talked literally six hours ago,” she chuckled, “What do you need?”

There was a squeal on the other end, “I get to come home the day after tomorrow!!!!”

“REALLY!?!” Marinette squealed excitedly, “I’m so glad you’re not going to miss Christmas.”

“Me, too! I’m really looking forward to it. I’m so excited,” he gushed, “I’m about done here, actually. I think I might be able to get a flight home late tomorrow night. Care to have a late night visitor?”

“Are you kidding me?!?! YES!! I would expect nothing less. I want to see you as soon as you’re back in Paris.”

“I will make it a special trip just to see you.”

“I feel honored.”

They chatted some more about how Nathalie was micromanaging his time the entire trip. He just wanted to be home where it didn’t feel like a non-stop show. There was something to be said for ‘personal time’ besides sleeping only. His days started at 8:00 and ran until bedtime. He was exhausted both physically and mentally.

Marinette returned to the kitchen to find Alya’s first batch of cookies coming out of the oven. She’d only had ten minutes to talk to Adrien due to his time restrictions. Ah, well, she was feeling particularly optimistic regardless thanks to his news. She’d see him tomorrow. No, not just that, she’d be able to touch him tomorrow.

* * *

“You look awfully happy,” Alya commented as Marinette slipped into a chair at the table. Her mother was sitting there drinking hot cup of tea.

Without a word, her mother poured a second cup and pushed it in front of her, “Would you like to share with the rest of us?”

Marinette sighed, “Not particularly.”

Alya smugly patted her apron and tutted at her, “It has to do with Adrien, doesn’t it?”

Marinette blushed, “Can we not?”

“That’s a yes.” Alya and Sabine exchanged a knowing look.

Marinette huffed in indignation. Her best friend and her mother loved to speculate about her life and her love life was a primary target as of late. 

They let the subject go, and eventually it was time for Alya to go home. She would return to bake the cookies in the morning. Marinette felt like time was moving at a snail’s pace now no matter what she did. Every second of every day felt like they were extended just to torture her. Her phone ticked by each hour like a taunt.

“AGH!” she finally announced at 8:00, “I’m going to bed.”

“Night, honey,” her mother called.

“Night, angel,” her father added.

With a flick of her wrist, she waved them off and collapsed on her bed. There she chased sleep in vain until daylight.


	19. Day 19: Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Marinette awoke, after a pitifully fitful night of lackluster sleep, and trudged over to her computer. Her feet shuffled across the floor and she plopped into the chair.

Her hair was still a mess, but her eyes popped against her bright blue robe. Her first place to go was the internet to catch up on the latest news. Her phone was blinking with an unread message and she grinned. It was from Adrien.

When she opened up the text she saw a selfie of Adrien wearing a Santa hat and puffing out his bottom lip in sad aegyo with a fist next to his eye. His caption read, ‘Wish you were here.’ She grinned. He was so dramatic and she loved it.

She quickly patted down her hair and ran her fingers through it to try and work out the tangles when a news story popped out of her screen and practically popped her in the face. Gabriel was going to start carrying Baille jewelry and was having a special exhibition of their newest festive pieces at his store tomorrow.

Marinette gaped and typed out a quick message.

**To Adrien: There’s a special exhibition at Gabriel tomorrow?**

**To Marinette: No picture. :’( You hurt me, Marinette.**

**She quickly snapped a picture of her sticking her tongue out and sent it to him.**

**To Adrien: Well?!**

**To Marinette: You are so impatient! Yes. There is a special event tomorrow at the store.**

**To Adrien: Are you going to be there?**

**To Marinette: I might…;)**

**To Adrien: ADRIEN!? Please tell me.**

**To Marinette: Well, I was going to ask you tonight if you’d meet me there tomorrow.**

**To Adrien: Of course!**

**To Marinette: :D**

* * *

Alya was curled around Nino when he got a text.

**Adrien to Nino: The store, at the mall, tomorrow.**

They always referred to the Gabriel store as ‘the store’ because Adrien felt uncomfortable calling it ‘Gabriel.’ It was just a quirk he had and always refrained. Nino had since picked up on the habit and it was an ongoing joke between them. ‘The store’ could only mean one thing.

**Nino to Adrien: You okay, dude?**

Adrien never liked to go there. In fact, he _only_ went there when he was required. It was usually in front of dozens of fan girls at a time and Nino would have to sweep in to save the ‘damsel’ in distress from all his squealing admirers.

**To Nino: Yessss. Why?**

**To Adrien: The store? You’re in Barcelona, man.**

**To Nino: Not tomorrow. ;)**

**To Adrien: DUDE!! Why didn’t you say so sooner?**

**To Nino: I didn’t know. I’ll see you then?**

**To Adrien: You know it! I’ll be there to cheer for you.**

**To Nino: Thanks, bud. I could use it. Oh, and bring Alya.**

Nino turned to Alya, “Adrien wants you to come with me to the mall tomorrow.”

She stretched back to look up at him in curiosity, “Did he say why?”

“Nope,” Nino shrugged, “I’m guessing it has something to do with this.” Nino pulled up the newest article about Gabriel carrying the new Baille jewelry.

Alya rolled her eyes, “Does Marinette know? Cause she’d kill me if we went to the mall without her to see Adrien.”

Nino bit his lip, “Unless Adrien wants it to be a surprise.”

“So I can’t tell her?”

“I’m sorry,” he frowned, “Is there any way I can make it up to you?”

Alya pursed her lips and sucked inward making a deliberating sound, “I’m sure I could think of _something_.”

* * *

It was when she heard the soft footfalls on the roof that Marinette was suddenly fully awake. Her head had been bobbing for the last hour while she waited for him to arrive. She’d only had a couple hours of sleep the night before and her parents kept her moving most of the day with the last minute Christmas rush.

In her excitement, and her sluggish state, she bumbled her way up to the trapdoor to unlock it. It immediately popped open and she was greeted with the giddy face of one Chat Noir.

He dove in after her, rolling them back onto her bed, where she collapsed with a huff as the wind was momentarily knocked out of her.

Adrien leaned back and grinned down at her, his eyes softened as he gazed on her lovingly. He leaned forward to nuzzle her neck and whispered, “Best. Feeling. Ever.”

Marinette chuckled sleepily and wound her arms around his waist in a similar fashion to the way he’d wrapped around her during his exuberant entrance. She pressed her face against his chest and hummed happily, “I missed you.”

“Me, too,” he nodded, “Missed you, I mean. SO much!”

“What did you do while you were away?” she asked.

“Other than think about friends and coming home? Nada.”

“I highly doubt you did nothing. What did you do?”

Chat bit his lip to suppress his chuckle, “Nothing of consequence?”

“I’m much more likely to believe that. What did you do then?”

Adrien took a deep breath and rattled off, “Well, actually, I got fitted for a festive suit, got roped into instructing junior models how to perfect their walks, talked with the lead marketing guy for Gabriel about my do’s and don’ts for tomorrow. I did some interviews with Spanish journalists, signed a bunch of autographs, took pictures with fans, and had measurements taken for a show I somehow got wrangled in for, back in Barcelona, in March.”

Her eyes widened, “Holy geeze, Adrien. Did you eat?”

“My cup diet, yes,” he nodded.

“Cup diet?”

“I’m joking,” he leveled, deadpan, “We don’t do the cup diet. That is a thing, though, but I am not on it. I don’t get that much at one time. I’m more of a grazer.”

“So why do I need to be at the mall tomorrow?”

A spark of recollection flashed in his eyes and he rocketed up to lean over her, “You have to come tomorrow!! I’m going to be there, working, but you _have_ to be there. It’s Christmas!”

Marinette giggled at his enthusiasm and gently brushed his hair out of his eyes. “I will be there.” She stared maybe just a little too long before a yawn tore through her and her eyes fluttered closed lazily. She mumbled, “I’m so tired, minou,” and let her fingers lazily drift around his ribs as her head dropped against his chest.

Adrien smiled softly and buried his lips in her hair, “Sleep, princess. You’ll see me tomorrow.”

He started to slide away from her, but her hand clinched into a fist around his middle, catching a handful of his suit in between her fingers. She pulled herself into him and climbed upwards to press the top of her head into his neck. He knew she was already asleep, but if that wasn’t an unconscious expectation of staying a while longer then he had no idea what was.

“I’ll stay a while longer,” he hummed and pressed a kiss to her temple. Then he dropped his voice and whispered, “I think I’d stay forever if you’d let me.”


	20. Day 20: Here Comes Santa Claus

Marinette wrung her hands together nervously as she got off the bus at the mall. She hadn’t told anyone where she was going to be, specifically, not even Alya, because she had no idea what was going on or why Adrien had asked her to come to the store. Now that she stood outside of the back employee entrance, she started to wonder what she was doing there at all.

She told her parents she was going to the mall and left them to assume that she was doing Christmas shopping. Her mother was encouraging as she told her to bundle up and not spend too much money.

“Take pictures if you meet anyone special,” her mother added a wink for good measure, which really just baffled Marinette.

Now, she waited patiently where Adrien had told her to go.

“Hey! You made it!”

His smooth, familiar voice was recognizable in an instant and she turned with a grin.

“I told you I would.”

There was no fanfare, and no hesitation, as he threw his arms around her shoulders. Given the events of the past few months, this was no longer a rare thing, but it still never failed to send a tingly feeling clear through her; except, now when she felt those fuzzies it was with zero anxiety and pure excitement. Feeling his warmth radiating through her sent her heart to the moon.

“You’re in a good moo—whoa, what are you wearing?”

Adrien pulled back to smile down at her, his hair a mess of fluff, and wearing what looked like a heavily padded Santa suit; which, coincidentally, turned out to be a heavily padded Santa suit. “I’m the Santa in the store today,” he smiled shyly and waggled his eyebrows, “Would you like to sit on my lap and tell me what a good girl you have been? I can make all your wishes come true.”

Marinette’s breath caught. That was perhaps the most sinful statement he’d ever uttered to her and positively dripping with sexual innuendo. How could he be so forward and maintain such an innocent expression? Her face froze as she attempted to remember words. _WORDS, Marinette, gosh dang it!_

Adrien frowned, “Marinette?”

“Yeee* _cough_ *eah?” She shook her head to clear it and glared angrily at the brick wall as if it had done something to offend her. How could she let him get to her like this? It was an outrage, honestly. And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to be mad at _him_ for it, that shameless flirt. She set her jaw and huffed, “I’ll get you back.”

Her gaze rose to met his and she regretted it dearly. Adrien’s concerned expression melted away into childish mischief as he bit his lip and tilted his chin downward in false shame, “Sorry?”

Marinette gasped, “You are _not_ sorry, and you know it, Adrien Agreste!”

His name caught his attention, “SHHHH!” he hissed. “No one is supposed to know it’s me.” He lifted the beard to cover his face and pulled a fluffy hat, he’d practically procured from thin air, over the top of his feathered locks. “Come on.”

His hand reached out, clasping it tightly over her own, before tugging her after him into the door behind him. “This is the entrance to the store.”

“Oh…” Marinette’s gaze darted around the small, dark hall way to take in the various racks of clothing lining the walls. Each rack was color coded by size and there was a rack with outfits sealed in bags. There were little note tags attached to them. “This is amazing!”

Adrien snuck over to the rack with all the individually packaged outfits. With a quick check up and down the hall, his reached out and snatched one of the hangers and tucked it under his arm, “Come on.”

Marinette followed, but felt like she was going to be in trouble. It was as if she were running from the law or something. “What are we doing? Where are we going? What’s going on?” she hissed hurriedly as she chased after him down a poorly lit, winding hallway. At the end, there was a door with a big ‘A’ on it. Adrien ran up to it, popped it open, and pulled her in after him.

“Whew!” he sighed as he leaned against the now closed door and locked it with a ‘click.’

Marinette stood facing him, silent and out of breath.

“We made it!” he grinned.  
”What is going on?” Her eyebrows furrowed as she asked him once again.

“Okay, so my father hired this girl to be my Mrs. Claus today. I have no intention of having any other girl for my Mrs. Claus, just you.”

Marinette grinned. “Awww, my sweet, kitty,” she reached up and held his face in her hands so she could place a sweet kiss on his forehead. “But isn’t your father going to be upset?”

Adrien’s head jerked up, “No, no. He doesn’t even know her. Our personnel department did the hiring. They probably just found some girl, called her up, and told here to be here for the job. I already called her to tell her we no longer need her services.”

“And what about when that gets back to your father?”

Adrien smirked and glanced away guiltily, “I told Nathalie. She’ll cover for me.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. Neither Agreste man deserved that woman. “You really ought to buy her something for her trouble.”

Adrien fiddled with his hands in front of him, clasping the hanger with one hand and the fluffy cuffs of his suit taking the brunt of his other fingers wandering, “She and I have an understanding. Once a month, she can pick a day to give no Fs. You know what Fs are, don’t you, Marinette?”

“Yes,” she shook her head in disbelief, “I know what ‘Fs’ are, Adrien.”

“On those days, I listen.”

“Listen to what?”

“Venting of frustrations like issues she’s having at work, personal stuff, things she’d like to do to my father when he goes to sleep, you know?” Adrien chuckled at the last one, “ _Without_ judgment.”

“Really? How did she ever agree to that?”

“Uh, it was my idea,” he admitted sheepishly, “I realized, early on, that she was more isolated in her life than I am in mine. She literally has no one to talk to other than the Gorilla and he doesn’t talk back. I guess she could talk to my father, or try, but then her job would be on the line.”  
”So you offered her a cheat day.”

“Sure!” he grinned brilliantly and nodded, “Yes! She lets me have a cheat day once a week on my diet.”

“Adrien,” Marinette leveled him with a glare, “You cheat _all the time._ ”

“Oh, but Nathalie doesn’t know that. Shhh!” he chuckled, “These are days she _knows_ and doesn’t tell father.”

“I see,” Marinette nodded, “So, is that the outfit?”

Adrien picked up his hands, holding out the hanger between them, “You have to try it on, though, because it might need adjusting.”

As if waking up from a dream, Marinette finally turned to look at the room they were standing in. “Adrien, where are we?”

“My dressing room,” he answered absentmindedly as he unzipped the garment bag. The hanger lifted out and he held out the matching red suit. Marinette was completely oblivious.

“You have a dressing room in your father’s store?”

“Of course,” Adrien mumbled absentmindedly and pushed the outfit insistently in her direction, “Clothes? Wear? Please?”

Marinette grabbed it automatically and turned to change.

* * *

That’s how Marinette found herself standing on a raised platform in Gabriel’s. It was a scene that could have been transplanted directly out of a greeting card or a movie. They had little machines that shot fake snow into the background which was shrouded in transparent plastic with trees, woodland animals, and frosted thoroughly. Marinette couldn’t believe this was in a store!

It looked like they’d gone all out just for an advertising campaign. Adrien, however, was completely unfazed. He marched up to his big chair, patted the one next to him gently, and extending his index finger in her direction to beckon her to join him.

On the largest tree, not in the plastic bubble scene behind her, but just to the side of the big scene of Santa’s home, was decorated in little open jewelry boxes. Inside, there were rings, earrings, and bracelets. Then, underneath the tree, were large boxes that were wrapped in gorgeous ribbons. These larger boxes had transparent tops to display large necklaces and other fashion accessories.

Marinette gazed around the store and felt the sweat break out all over her body. There were _so_ many people. Though she was dressed in a way that no one would be able to recognize her, even her own maman would be hard pressed to, she still felt like she was standing naked in front of them all.

“Relax, Marinette. You’re okay,” he squeezed her fingers gently, “I won’t let anything happen to you. They’re all here to see _me_ , afterall.”

“And how do you know?” she asked timidly, “They won’t even know it’s you.”

“Of course not, but everyone is coming here to see Santa.” As he said ‘Santa’ he held is arms wide and grinned to emphasize his point.

“Okay,” she nodded, “Touche.”

At that moment, Adrien reached out and bopped her nose, “Boop!”

Marinette’s face scrunched up in distaste, “Did you just boop my nose in front of all these people?”

“We’re supposed to be cute, Mar…Mrs. Claus.” He gave a little finger wave for good measure.

“Oh, in that case…” To Adrien’s instant horror, and masochistic gratification, Marinette leaned over and placed a big smooch on his cheek. “There.” She pulled back and giggled excitedly at the clear kiss imprint left by her lipstick on his skin.

Adrien took out his phone and turned the camera on to face him. His gasp was audible as he inspected the mark. Then, he got a deliciously wonderful idea. He popped his arm out, tilted his head at an angle to best show the kiss, and held his free hand index finger over his puckered lips as he widened his eyes to show surprise.

Marinette was guffawing when he showed her the picture.

“You have to send me a copy!” she whined between wheezes.

Eventually, their fun had to come to an end as patrons started to flood into the store. The Santa event was only going to last for a couple hours and there were hundreds of children already lined up.

“They obviously don’t know it’s you,” she whispered sneakily during a drink break.

“How can you tell?”

“There’d be teenaged girls fighting children to get to you.”

It was true, too. The oldest child they had was a ten year old boy. He wasn’t interested in Santa, though. Instead, he asked for a hug and a kiss from Mrs. Claus and she was more than happy to oblige. Adrien feigned chagrin and playfully ushed the child away for ‘making moves on my Mrs.’

“I’m exhausted,” she finally admitted after they’d been sitting there talking to children for the last couple hours. “Are we almost done?”

Adrien scanned the room, as if looking for something. He’d done it often enough, but now Marinette was sure he was looking for something specific.

“What are you looking for?”

“Not what, whom.”

“Whom are you looking for?” she clarified.

“Nino! He said he’d be here.”

There was a little ‘eep’ from Marinette at the mention of their friend. “Nino is coming?”

Adrien grinned, “Alya, too.”

“Oh, lord. Oh, no. No, no, Adrien, you didn’t,” she dropped her face into her hands and sighed, “We’re done, though, right?”

“Just about,” he grinned as he stood to wave at two figures in the distance.

The platform had been corded off by personnel, but upon the arrival of their friends, Adrien called out to allow them to pass. Marinette stood there in mortification as they appeared to climb the stairs in slow motion.

“Ho, ho, ho!” Adrien boomed out boisterously as he thrust his chest outward. He tapped it once for show and grinned.

“Is that you, dude?” Nino’s eyes about bugged out of his head, “Holy shit!?”

“My dad made this,” he pulled at the jacket proudly. Although, he and his father had a strained relationship, he was madly proud of his father’s work and accomplishments.

Nino threw him a double thumbs up, “That’s top notch, bud. This is the best suit I’ve ever seen.”

“I still can’t believe that’s you,” Alya said slowly as she stared at him through wide eyes, “You look like the real thing.” She shook her head and hopped giddily, “Sit, sit, sit.”

Adrien did as he was instructed and made an ‘oof’ sound as Alya forcefully plopped down in his lap.

“Alya, I’m not Santa Cla—“

“Shut up,” she interrupted, “I know. You just look so good that I want a selfie of me sitting on Santa’s lap.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. That was Alya, for sure.

“I don’t think we’ve met, but I’m Nino. Adrien’s best friend,” Nino said as he held out his hand to Mrs. Claus.

Marinette stifled her chuckle and reached out to clasp his hand, “Hello, Nino Lahiffe. What a coincidence?! I’m Adrien’s best friend, too.”

Nino glanced between Mrs. Claus and Adrien skeptically, “Bro, have you been holding out on me? Cause she’s cute.”

Alya rolled her eyes at that, but didn’t argue. He was right. She was cute.

“Nino, that’s Marinette,” Adrien said, straight faced and everything. It lasted about three seconds before he and Marinette broke into spluttering laughter. Marinette’s was borderline nervous mortification, but mostly tickled.

“NO WAY!” Alya shrieked as she launched off of Adrien’s lap to look her over. “Girl!? You don’t look anything like yourself. Are you wearing silver eyeshadow? Cause I’m not gonna lie, it’s hot. I know you’re supposed to look like an old lady and everything, which you do, they did a great job, but it really makes your eyes pop. Like _wow!_ ”

“Thanks, Alya.” Marinette glanced away shyly. Compliments were very hard for her to take.

“Okay, now it’s my turn,” Nino grinned as he pulled out his phone. He turned on the camera and leaned in close to Marinette. As he pressed the ‘capture’ button, Marinette turned her face and planted a kiss on Nino’s cheek. The resulting photo captured his shocked surprise and it was adorable. “Uh…can we take another one?” he asked nervously.

Marinette nodded, “Sure.”

“Only, just smile.” His blush was lingering on his cheeks from the previous photo which supplied a healthy glow to the next as she pressed her cheek next to his. “Thanks, Marinette. These are great.”

Marinette and Adrien excused themselves to get changed back into their original outfits. One of the photographers for the event, who had been running around snapping photos off and on, wanted one more shot of just her and Adrien, sans costumes and makeup, sitting in the chairs on the platform.

“Smile pretty!” he man called, “Tomorrow this will be on the front page of the gazette.”

The rest of the afternoon, the friends hung out for a while and chatted over lattes. It had been a while since they'd all been together and it was nice just to be together. They all made a plan, then and there, that if Adrien's father had any idea of taking him away again, that they'd all launch a secret rescue mission to go get him. Operation 'Save Adrien's Christmas' was a go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEAR!! :)  
> I hope 2018 manages to be a wonderful year for you all. It has to be better than 2017, right? We can always hope.  
> Inspire Optimism! 
> 
> Thank you to every one who reads my stuff. I really do appreciate it!


	21. Day 21: We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Marinette woke to the sound of clinking coming from her skylight. There was only one person who would be up there at, she rolled over to see her alarm clock, eight fifteen in the morning. Wait, morning. Daylight. Something was wrong.

“WHOA!” she rolled off the edge of her bed and landed with a ‘thump’ on the floor. Here she thought she was closer to the wall. Oops.

A muffled voice came from above, “You okay there, princess? Can I come in?”

“Chat!? What are you doing here? It’s light outside. Someone could see you!”

“Is that a no?”

“On both counts,” she grumbled.  
”Oh, don’t be like that,” he chuckled, “Just a quick little visit.”

Marinette climbed up and flipped the latch and the skylight lifted. It took half a second before a large black-clad boy landed on her bed, knees first, grabbing her wrist as he landed so she plopped backwards to sit in the middle of her bed with an ‘oof.’

“Nice jammies,” he said off-handedly, gesturing to her black satin, mid-thigh pajama top over acid green leggings. He grabbing her hand, “I know you just woke up, and you’re grumpy, but I had something to show you.”

Marinette leaned her head on his shoulder and yawned, “I’m always happy to see you, kitty. I’m just tired.”

As if on cue, Chat pulled his baton off of his back and twisted it. A compartment opened up and Marinette gasped, “WHAT!?! Your baton has a hidden compartment?”

Chat looked over at Ladybug incredulously, “Doesn’t your yo-yo?”

“Uh…I don’t know,” she admitted honestly.

“Anyway,” he waved his hand dismissively, “That’s not what I’m here to show you. _This_ is what I’m here to show you.” He pulled out a rolled up piece of newspaper and held it out to her. “Look.”

Marinette took the paper, and stifled a yawn, as she carefully unrolled it. Her eyes widened. There was a photograph of her and Adrien sitting on the large carved wooden chairs at Gabriel with the winter wonderland behind them.

 **‘Celeb Undercover’** the article read, ‘December 20 th, fashion mogul Gabriel Agreste’s very own son, and beautiful mystery companion, greeted guests at Gabriel’s store. The two teens spent two hours greeting young patrons and fulfilling Christmas wishes. Delighted faces spilled in steadily to spend a moments with the undercover Santa. Hearts are bound to be breaking this morning, as this was a one-time promotional event for Baille jewelry being featured in the Gabriel store.”

Marinette stared blankly. This was a picture. On the front page. With her picture on it.

“Uh, uh, uh…this is…that’s me. That is _me_ on the front page of the newspaper.”

“Not just the gazette, tough,” Adrien clicked his tongue pensively, “There’s a bit of a movement going on and some speculations on media sites. Pssh, it’s no big deal.” He waved his hand dismissively, but was suddenly twitchy like he was nervous.

Adrien was actually rethinking coming here. He should have let her figure this out on her own because he should have known she’d have a different reaction to this as he did. He was used to this type of attention. She was not.

“Just forget about it,” he said grabbing the newspaper out of her hand and storing it back in his staff.

“Speculations?”

“Nothing to worry about, princess.” He pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head, “Don’t want you worrying about it. It’s nothing. I’ll blow over before you know it. I’ll come by later and see you if that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay,” she grinned.

“See ya!”

* * *

Not less than an hour later.

*Click, click, click* Multiple flashes.

Knock, knock!

Marinette jumped as the trap door to her room creaked open a peek, “Come on in, mama.”

Her mother stepped into the room with a sly grin and a cup of tea.  
”Morning, Marinette. I thought you could use some of this before facing your day.”

Marinette’s brow rose, “Face my day? What do you mean?”

“Well,” her mother unfolded a couple news papers and set them in Marinette’s lap. They were two _other_ than the gazette. Paris Daily was the most prominent. “Your father and I read the paper this morning.”

Marinette frowned. She hadn’t lied yesterday. Was her mother upset she hadn’t told her where she was going? Or that she ended up on the front of the newspaper? It wasn’t her fault.

“Maman, I didn’t know that was go—“

“Shhh,” her mother pressed a finger to her lips to stop her talking, “I just wanted you to know that we’re here to support you no matter what happens. There are no less than a dozen reporters sitting in our store with cameras poised and tape recorders at the ready. If you don’t want to come down and help today you can take the day off.”

“Maman,” Marinette groaned and pulled her hair back into her signature twin-tails with the hair ties she’d had on her wrist. Marinette had been thinking about this a lot, actually. If she and Adrien were to date, she’d have to get used to the publicity. She’d have to learn all the tips and tricks to try and avoid the paparazzi, probably change her cell phone number, and be very careful about who she talks to and where she goes. It was all part of a delicate dance she was sure to be thrust in sooner rather than later because, though her mind wasn’t made up, her heart surely was. It was inevitable. “I’ll be fine.”

Sabine sat up straight and grinned, “I’m proud of you, honey. Not letting those reporters get to you.”

It wasn’t like the novelty of her wouldn’t wear off someday, eventually.

“I just want to get this over with.” She breathed out through her nose and pushed to stand. Part of her believed it to be true and that small part was what she was concentrating on as she walked down the stairs and into the beast filled lair.

As soon as she stepped in front of the cash register, a woman walked up and plopped a muffin in front of her face on the counter. “How do you know Adrien Agreste?” the woman asked as she held a microphone in front of Marinette’s face.

“Uh, that muffin will be two euros, please,” Marinette smiled shyly.

The woman looked past Marinette, who then turned to see what she was looking at only to catch her dad shyly peeking out from behind the doorway. He cleared his throat and walked up behind Marinette.

“I sort of told them that if they wanted you to answer their questions that they’d have to buy something or leave,” Tom mumbled ashamedly.

Although, something in what he said made Marinette feel particularly clever, “Yeah, okay. Although, they have to buy something for each question and I’m only going to answer to the extent I’m comfortable.”

As soon as she said it, the entire room burst alive with chatter and clatter as they busied themselves to prepare for their own turn to ask a question. The display cases were rushed, and subsequently emptied at a rapid pace.

“I know Adrien from school,” she answered politely. “Next? That’ll be three euros.”

“Are you a model at Gabriel, too?”

“No,” she snorted, “Do I look like a model?”

The man grinned, “Do I get a discount if I answer your questions?”

Marinette took a half euro coin and handed it back to him, “Yes.”

“Other than your height, I don’t see why not. You are certainly pretty enough.”

Marinette blushed and waved the next one up, “Two euros.”

“Have you ever met his father, the elusive Gabriel Agreste?”

“Yes,” she answered honestly. There was a collective gasp around the room followed by more chatter.

“What was he like?”

“That danish is four euros,” she said. “Gabriel or Adrien?”

“Gabriel,” the woman clarified.

“He was polite and professional,” she replied.

The questions continued until her parents were completely sold out of stock. By the end of the shift, she had gone over in her head all the information she’d shared just in case it all got back to her or someone important.

She and Adrien met at school. He fences and she tried to get on his fencing team. He sits ahead of her in class, they have the same friends, she could be considered in his circle, they are not dating, they are close, she has been to his house, she has met his father, his father was polite and professional, Nathalie appeared very competent at her job and yes they should be afraid of her. She also said she believes Adrien doesn’t get enough privacy, his privacy should be respected if he asks for it, his personal life shouldn’t be used to sell magazines, he has always been a gentlemen, he is very sweet, and kind, and smart.

Yes, that was all she could remember, at least, that was the gist of it. Sometimes they had to ask multiple questions to get the details, but that sold more pastries for her parents. She couldn’t help it if they asked silly questions like, “Does Adrien like you?” Of course he did. They were friends. It wasn’t the answer to the question they’d intended, but it was the answer to the question they had asked.

At noon, when her parents declared an official pause to questions for Marinette’s lunch break, and the reporters slowly trickled out.

During the break, she and her father took over the kitchen to get as many pastries out in as short a time as possible. Her mother was scurrying around the store front to try and refill all the display cases and help customers who were starting to arrive.

“Tom!” she called to the back, “Assistance?”

That was his cue, as he brought out a four tiered trolley loaded with trays of sweets.

“Yes, dear,” he grinned as he began placing the sugary confections in their proper places. Marinette was following close behind with the festive items; mocha buche de noel, red and green sprinkled shaped sugar cookies, stained glass candied cookies, snowballs, butter cookies, and her own assortment of fudge.

“How are things, honey?” Tom asked.

Sabine stood up and pushed her bangs out of her face. Then she patted down her apron and handed Tom the black felt-tipped marker she kept there. “I still haven’t gotten around to labeling the discounted shelving and still have all those macarons and danishes to get out.”

“I brought a few more trays of éclairs, croissants, palmiers, cream puffs, galettes, and…” he leaned down to peak at the bottom level, “pain au chocolates.”

“He’s been baking up a storm back there,” Marinette chuckled over her stacked trays, “He still has some left.”

“Please tell me there are some tarts,” she sighed as she scanned the shelves. The danishes were low, too, but Tom had just arrived with a new tray.

“There are!” Marinette exclaimed. She was just about to pull them out of the oven and had almost forgotten. “I’ll go get them.”

She set her trays down on her father’s trolley and ran back to the kitchen.

* * *

Sabine had just situated herself back behind the counter when a figure dressed in a dark hoodie, a baseball cap, and glasses strolled in through the front door. There were no other patrons in the store at the time, so as the door clicked shut she called, “Hello, Adrien! Marinette is in the kitchen.”

He took the glasses and cap off, his eyes wide, “How did you know it was me?”

Tom chuckled from behind him, “With that get up you’d have to be someone famous. The only celebrity visiting this bakery would be you.”

Adrien frowned, “Visiting is going to be difficult.”

“Ah, well, honey, don’t beat yourself up,” she leaned forward and patted his shoulder. “It appears to have worked so far. Go ahead and head in,” she cooed with a wink.

He bowed his head and let himself up into the Dupain-Cheng residence.

Tom approached the counter and lounged over it on his elbow, “He’s still as oblivious as ever, eh, dear?”

“They both are,” she sighed with a shake of her head. “They’ll be in the friend zone until they’re walking down the aisle, I’m afraid.”

“You think Alya would arrange their wedding without consulting them first?”

Sabine began to laugh, “We already have a bet going on that, dear.”

Tom snickered, “Sorry, I forgot.”

“And I do. She’s a very crafty girl. While Marinette and Adrien’s minds are preoccupied elsewhere, I’m sure she could do many things without their knowledge.”

Truer words had never been spoken.

* * *

“Knock, knock!” Adrien called as he peeked into the kitchen. “Marinette?”

He walked through the kitchen, empty. An open sack of flour sat balanced on the kitchen counter with a large scoop sitting out of it. In front, on the floor, was a large pile of flour and little foot prints leading back to the store room.

Adrien covered his mouth with his hand to conceal his laughter and followed the footsteps. “Marinette?!” he sang.

In the storeroom, he found Marinette leaned over a very large chest, her feet off the ground as she flailed to reach its depths. Adrien couldn’t resist reaching out and grabbing her flailing foot.

“WHAHH!!” she screamed as she grabbed the edge and braced herself to fall.

He began laughing, “Whoa, whoa. I’ve got you, bug.”

She scurried out and glared up at him, “That was not nice!”

He snickered behind his hand, but didn’t correct her. Perhaps, it wasn’t the nicest he could have been. On the other hand, he found it highly entertaining.

“I heard you handled the shark infested waters of the press today like a champ,” he praised proudly.

“Well, I have had plenty of practice,” she nodded in agreement.

“True,” he nodded, “But not like today.”

They both knew what he meant. He meant without a mask, and no, she hadn’t had much practice with the press without that protection between them.

“It actually wasn’t that bad,” she admitted. Just saying it aloud made her optimism, about a relationship with Adrien working, grow. There was a chance that they could actually be happy together even if they hadn’t really hit the rough ‘crazed fans’ stuff, yet.

“Well, Alya already called me to ask if I’d put you up to it.”

“Oh?” Marinette giggled. Of course, Alya wouldn’t believe Marinette had decided to do such a thing. Although, “Why didn’t she call me?”

“She probably did. You were working all morning, from what I can tell. You provided loads of information.” He paused and bit his lip pensively, “Speaking of that, we should probably go over the does and don’ts of the pap so you don’t get overwhelmed by them. They’ll keep pushing for more the more you give them. I’ll help you diffuse such things for the future.”

“You mean where I only answer like half a dozen questions instead of a few?”

“Yes,” he nodded. That was exactly what he meant. He didn’t want his life in the presses any more than Marinette, and seeing as he was a public figure, he’d had more practice at navigating the waters. He could help!

Although, that wasn’t the reason he was here. “Since you haven’t heard from Alya I’m guessing you haven’t checked your phone.”

“No,” she shook her head and pulled up on a bag of yeast victoriously, “AHA!”

“Then I guess you don’t know that Nino is sick?”

Marinette whipped around instantly, “He’s what? He was just fine yesterday.”

“Before he ate that omelet,” Adrien frowned, “I told him to order one with a specific request or else he’ll end up with one that’s been sitting out too long.”

“Food poisoning?”

“That’s what I suspect. Alya says he’s having dual-trouble and I can only assume that means…”

Marinette held a hand up to stop him, “I got it. You don’t have to go on. Sounds like food poisoning.”

“I guess he’s pretty miserable by the sounds of it. He didn’t sleep last night and he’s been feeling nasty all morning. He isn’t puking anymore, though, thankfully.”

“That’s good!”

“Yeah, I guess,” he shrugged. It really wasn’t good no matter how you looked at it, but getting better was good, he guessed.

“I hope he gets to feeling better.”

Marinette hurried into the kitchen with her yeast and dropped a tablespoon into a large bowl with a few cups of warm water in the bottom. “I wish we could do something for him.”

Adrien grinned, “I’m glad you said that. I think we should go see him at least.”

“Definitely! Later, though. I have to make a couple batches of baguettes for the evening rush. People will be dropping by any minute. Oooh, and bagels. Dang. I’m getting behind.”

“Where are your parents?”

She huffed and her bangs lifted upwards, “Maman is running the front and papa is getting ready for a doctor’s appointment. It’s just me for the next couple hours.”

“Do you need help?”

Marinette smirked, “Do you know how to bake?”

“Not a bit,” he grinned, “But I’ll do my darnedest.”

“Okay, well, if you could just fetch ingredients and utensils for me, as I need them, I’d appreciate it.”

* * *

The next couple hours passed by in a relative calm; Adrien doing all the traveling across the kitchen and minimizing chances for Marinette to make messes.

He grinned proudly as Marinette pulled out their last batch of baguettes and finished boiling the last dozen bagels.

“DONE!” she sighed as she collapsed on the couch upstairs. “Now, we can call Alya and see about visiting Nino.”

That’s how they ended up, bundled in layers upon layers of winter wear, staring up at Nino’s bedroom window.

“He’s going to appreciate that we came to visit, though, right?” Marinette asked, seeing as both Alya and Adrien’s idea of cheering Nino up was simultaneously making fun of his dislike for caroling. “He doesn’t feel well. I’m not so sure his sense of humor is up to this.”

At about that moment, Alya started singing, at the top of her lungs, ‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas.’

Adrien joined in, “Good tidings to you, whoever you are. Good tidings on Christmas and a Happy New Year!”

Marinette reluctantly agreed to jump into the soprano role. They were officially blended when her voice joined in and a curtain shifted against the palely lit window above.

“What the hell?” he called, “You guys are dorks.”

“But you love us!!” Alya called up, “Care if we come visit?”

He turned around and walked back into his room. Alya pulled out her phone and texted him.

**Alya to Nino: Is that a no?**

**To Alya: Your call.**

“He said we can come up!” she grinned and walked up the steps to his apartment.

Nino lounged on the bed while the rest of them crowded around his small room on the floor. He was curled over a pillow and had a wet compress draped across his forehead.

“What is that on your head?” A bewildered Adrien couldn’t figure it out at all. He figured it might help with a fever if he had one, but Nino wasn’t running a fever. They’d discussed this earlier. Then why…?

Nino glanced up at the compress, “It just feels nice.”.

Adrien was glancing between the he and Alya, who were both staring incredulously, “It does?”

Marinette jumped into the conversation to try and figure it out herself, “You don’t get sick very often, do you, Adrien?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know. I guess I get sick as much as the next person.”

“And what do you do?” Marinette asked.

Adrien shifted uncomfortably. He felt like there were right and wrong answers all of a sudden. “We cancel everything, I skip school, and hole up in my room until I feel better.”

“That’s what I did,” Nino nodded in agreement.

Adrien sighed with relief. Thankfully, that was the _normal_ thing to do.

Alya’s radar was pinging all of a sudden, “Yeah, but your mom makes you bone broth, herbal tea, and brings up compresses for your head. She cleans up your sick and disinfects everything.”

“I have a maid who cleans and disinfects everything,” Adrien chimed in.

They all stared at him now, silent, and he shifted uncomfortably. Dang it. Somehow he’d managed to say something wrong. He should have just kept his mouth shut.

Adrien felt Marinette fidget closer to him and her small hand slid into his own to give a gentle squeeze.

“You should give one of us a call when you’re sick, Adrien. No one should be alone when they feel bad.”

_Oh._

“Yeah, dude, if you’re not contagious, I’d totally hang out with you.”

“Me, too,” Alya nodded.

Marinette leaned in close and whispered, “Contagious or not, if you’ll take care of me, I’ll take care of you.”

“I’m not really alone, honest. Nathalie checks in, sometimes.” He shut up again and plants a tight smile on his face. His explanations just made it sound even worse. Marinette squeezed his hand again and he squeezed back. “And thanks,” he whispered back.

“No problem.”

“So, how many times _did_ you throw up?” Alya asked with a tap to Nino’s foot.

He groaned painfully, “Could we not. I don’t want to think about it. Like eight…?”

“Holy cow!” she exclaimed.

“It was only productive the first four or five times and then it was just…”

“Yeah, we got it,” Alya waved her hand. She’d only asked for the numbers, not the details.

Nino grinned and they all chuckled at Alya’s expense.

“Looks like you’re in a better mood.” Marinette winked at Nino who gave her a finger gun and a click of his tongue. He’d be just about back to normal tomorrow. It was what most people referred to as a ’24 hour bug.’

“Guys, it’s getting late,” Adrien glanced down at his watch, “And I’m glad to see you’re doing better, Nino, but I think I better head home. Alya? Marinette?”

Alya shook her head, “Nah, you go. I’ll stay with Nino a while longer. I’ll probably just crash on his floor, if your parents won’t mind.”

“I doubt it,” he groaned, “They never cared before when I wasn’t sick. They might like the help.”

“And you?”

He blushed and glanced away, “I would like you to stay.”

“Well, that answers that,” Adrien stood up, “Mari?”

She glanced around the room and stood, “Yeah, well, I better head out, too. It’s safer this way.”

“See you guys later!” Alya called.

“And thanks for visiting,” Nino added.

* * *

Adrien and Marinette transformed in dark area a couple roads away from Nino’s house. It was comfortable now, casually traveling as Chat Noir and Ladybug to Marinette’s house.

“I’m glad he’s feeling better,” she mused as her feet touched down on the balcony floor.

Adrien merely nodded and hummed his agreement as the habitually dropped down into Marinette’s bedroom and crawled across her bed. They dropped their transformations almost simultaneously, too, like they’d done many times before. It was natural to them now.

Marinette flopped over to drop her head onto his chest and sighed, “Do you really have to go home soon?”

“Not really,” he shook his head, “I was just hoping we’d get to do this before I have to go and Alya looked like she wanted some alone time with Nino.”

“She did, didn’t she?” Marinette snickered. Alya had used them as an excuse to see her boyfriend when he was sick because she was always a worrywart. She’d never tell anyone, but they all knew.

Adrien and Marinette didn’t say anything, but appreciated each other all the same. Adrien ran his fingers gently through her hair and the backs of his fingers along her jaw. She gently ran her fingertips along his back, down his ribs, along his side, down to his hip, and back again. It was comforting. Adrien knew she’d fallen asleep when her hand stilled on his side.

He wanted to stay, but knew he’d better get home. He slid out from underneath of her and placed a gentle kiss to her temple, “Soon I'll get to stay. Until then, sleep well, my princess.”


	22. Day 22: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Watch out for typos! I did NOT re-read, have a beta, or type sober. 
> 
> This is a friendly PSA, don't type under the influence and never trust auto-correct. Thank you! :)

Three days until Christmas!! Marinette could hardly contain her excitement as she bounded up the stairs. This was her last day in the bakery because they closed for Christmas break the day after tomorrow. Her parents gave her the twenty-third off and they’d be off on Christmas Eve.

“What a great day, huh, Tik?” she hummed happily as she flopped onto her chaise. Her feet bounced off to the side and she sighed. It had been a glorious day. Adrien had stopped in to visit her that morning incognito, they’d had a couple more reporters show up, and Alya regaled her with the news of how Chloe reacted to the newspaper yesterday.

One could say Chloe’s reaction was lackluster, but for people who knew Chloe it was anything but. Sabrina actually was the one who sounded the alarm by calling Juleka. Juleka called Rose, who called Mylene, who called Alya who called Marinette. Needless to say, Chloe was shut in her room and not coming out or talking to anyone. Not a single person. Rumor had it that Chat Noir himself had gone to talk to her, but she refused to open the door.

 _I bet he did_ was Marinette’s initial reaction to hearing he’d dropped by. Chloe was his friend and he was the kind to naturally be concerned. Plus, he was such a good person. It was one of his best qualities.

Marinette really didn’t care that she wasn’t taking it well, though. Chloe had made it no secret that they weren’t friends. Sure, it might sound harsh, but over the years Marinette had decided that Chloe was dramatic and she couldn’t let it get to her. Some day she’d come around or she’d just be miserable forever.

Tikki flew in front of Marinette’s face and frowned, “You know, maybe you should go talk to Chloe.”

“Oh, not you, too,” Marinette groaned. Alya had suggested the same. What could Marinette say to Chloe that would make anything better? Nothing. “She hates my guts.”  
”Marinette, yes, but what about Ladybug?”

Marinette sat upright, “You’re a genius, Tikki. I guess I could go see if she’s okay so I can let Adrien know. I’m sure he’s worried.”

“And it would be the nice thing to do. Don’t do it for Chloe, but do it for Adrien.”

“Yes! You are completely right. I’ll go see her right now.”

Marinette sneaked out of the house and off to the home of one Chloe Bourgeois.

* * *

Meanwhile, downstairs, Sabine was having her own quandary.

“What do you mean he’ll be gone for a week and a half? You don’t abandon your kid at Christmas!” she shouted heatedly.

Tom shook his head sadly, “That’s what she said.”

“When she picked up the croissants?”

“Yep,” Tom nodded with a pop. There were some perks to Adrien’s being close to Marinette. Nathalie Sancoeur was a semi-regular customer in her mornings now. The bakery was on her new morning jogging route, thanks to her need to check up on Adrien so often, as of late. “That’s what she said. He leaves this afternoon.”

“Oooh,” Sabine made little fists with her hands and vibrated with pent up rage, “I could just spit!”

“Honey,” Tom leveled her with stare, “I told her you would be unhappy to hear it.”

“No, no,” she shook her head angrily, “I’m not just upset. I’m pissed.”

He hadn’t realized it, but while he was reading his newspaper, Sabine was grabbing her coat and keys. She rushed towards the front door and that's when he realized she was leaving.

“Whoa, wait, where are you going?”

“To get that boy and bring him home. This is bull shit.”

He didn’t even have a chance to respond before the door slammed shut. Tom tried desperately to control the grin that threatened to break out across his face, but he couldn’t. It was futile to resist. Instead, he burst out in unrestrained laughter and mumbled, “God, I love my wife.”

* * *

Marinette landed on the balcony of The Grand Paris hotel, Chloe’s room to be precise, and knocked. She waited patiently as a shadow of a figure came to the door.

There was a squeal, “Oooh, Ladybug, you came?!?!”

“Hello, Chloe Bourgeois," she greeted stiffly.

“I’m so happy to see you! I knew that if I just ignored that mangy cat that you would come and see me.”

“Chloe, that _mangy cat_ is my partner and he—“

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, he’s a great person, blah, blah, blah. Yes, well, he’s no Adrien and that is a damn shame.”

“What do you mean?” Ladybug forced her straight face. It was hard, but dang it, she was a professional.

“I have this sick feeling that he’s dating a classmate of mine and it’s just awful. Awful. A down right travesty, if you ask me.”

“I was not aware. What is wrong with this classmate?”

Chloe sighed, “You know what? If it stays between you and me, nothing, except that she’s not like him! She’s nothing like him. He’s aristocracy and she’s working class. I don’t think it is right.”

“Is that the only thing?”

“And he’s my friend! I love him like a brother, I’ve always been his biggest fan, and I don’t want him to be taken advantage of.”

Ladybug couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Chloe didn’t _like_ Adrien? Not romantically, anyway?

“What if he is happy?”

Chloe sighed and deflated as she droped onto the couch, “I guess I could try to be supportive, for Adrien, but I’m not going to like it. No one can expect me to like it. This girl doesn’t like me and I’m not about to go worshipping the ground she walks on. No way in hell.”

“Do you like her?”

There’s an eye roll, “Let’s just say the animosity is mutual.”

Ladybug tries to smother her growing elation. Chloe! Chloe Bourgeois was a good person. Her admirable qualities were in there, deep, deep down inside, but there. This was excellent news.

“Chloe, can I give you some advice?”

Chloe turned to face Ladybug like she were handing her a lifeline, “YES! _Please_. I’m against a wall right now. Anything I do will make me look weak. That is unacceptable. I will not admit fault. I have done nothing wrong.” She truly did believe that.

Ladybug nodded, “What if you just started being less hostile and gradually started getting along? Would that work? No one would have to ‘do’ anything. No one would have to look weak. From what I can tell, the other girl is just as stubborn as you.” And she should know.

“Damn straight,” she nodded.

Ladybug grimaced, “So why don’t you just not address it at all? Pretend the animosity doesn’t exist, and maybe it will disappear.”

“Do you think I could do that?”

“You could try. It’s the passive aggressive approach, but it might work.” If she had any say in it it would. Marinette could see where Chloe was coming from now, somewhat, and she’d do her best to not poke the bear. She was willing to let bygones be bygones for Adrien.

“I can try,” she shrugged, “I doubt it will work, though.”

“You’ll never know until you try. Good luck, Chloe!” With that, Ladybug leaned forward and kissed both of her cheeks in a friendly way. "See you around!" Chloe irradiated joy as she waved Ladybug off into the distance with a new optimistic outlook.

* * *

Ladybug landed on her balcony and dropped her transformation. As she walked down the stairs she could hear chatting in the kitchen. _No way._

Standing in her kitchen, with an apron wrapped around his waist and padding around in socks, was Adrien Agreste. He waved shyly at her and smiled. She noticed he had some flour on his cheek.

“Adrien!?” she exclaimed in surprise.

“Hi, Marinette!”

“What are you doing here?”

He glanced over to Sabine and she turned away, pursing her lips.

“Your mother kidnapped me,” he grinned mischievously.

Sabine whipped back around, indignant. She spluttered, “I…hmm.” She smirked and returned to the pot on the stove. Perhaps she did.

“Kidnapped you?! Maman, what did you do? Adrien, are you going to get in trouble?”

He frowned, “No. My father’s not even home.”

Oh.

“Are you staying then?”

He glanced over to Sabine, “Am I?”

She nodded, but didn’t turn around.

He grinned, “I guess so!” He gestured to the duffle on the couch, “Nathalie packed that. It makes a lot more sense now.”

Sabine began to giggle from behind him and Adrien smiled. He loved Marinette’s family.

“I take it papa was in on this plan?” Marinette asked as she sidled up alongside her mother.

“I’d like to think so,” she whispered. Then she got a smirk on her face, “Where were you, Marinette? I checked upstairs for you and you weren’t there.”

“I…I…”

“She was in the bathroom!” Adrien chimed in, “I meant to tell you.”

He glanced at Marinette. She gave him a ‘thank you’ nod and he gave her a ‘where were you’ brow raise. She quickly jerked her head to the side as if to say ‘later.’ It was a conversation where spoken word was not needed. It was getting easier to do this as they got to know each other as civilians.

“I assumed,” her mother nodded mechanically and snickered, “We’re always somewhere, aren’t we?”

Adrien nodded and winked at Marinette, “That we are.”

“So what are you making?” Marinette asked, walking over to the bar where Adrien was rolling out dough.

“Dumplings!” he exclaimed excitedly, “I think.” He frowned as he stared down at the dough he’d rolled thin into a circle. Adrien had never actually made a dumpling before.

“Yes, honey, why don’t you jump in and help him. I’d like to see what kind of dumplings you two can make together.”

Marinette gasped, completely scandalized at her mother’s subtle insinuation.

All the while, completely oblivious and innocent, Adrien smiled, “Yeah, Mari, come on. I could use your hands. I’m not good at doing this alone.”

At about that moment, both Marinette and her mother burst out laughing. Adrien turned around confused.

“Uh…did I say something funny?”

“No, no honey, you’re fine. Marinette and I may have some repentance in our future, but you are fine.”

Marinette added a hip bump with him for good measure, “You sure are.”

Then she glanced over his shoulder to give her mother a glare that said ‘behave yourself, maman.’ Sabine sashayed back to the sink, sassy as can be.

* * *

That evening, after dumplings and steamed squash, they all settled on the L-shaped couch to watch a musical variety show. Marinette and Adrien began to argue over music.

“A solo piano has far more feeling than an entire symphony could ever have,” Adrien exclaimed.

Marinette’s mother, who was a pianist herself, nodded, “He’s right, honey.”

That’s when Tom decided to step in, “Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that. There’s a lot to be said for all the other instruments. I personally like a good violin or well plucked harp.”

Marinette grinned, “SEE! You all are prejudiced because you play the piano.”

“I still believe a piano is a more sensual instrument,” her mother added.

“We weren’t arguing sensuality, maman,” Marinette whined, “We’re arguing the comparison between a piano and a symphony. A symphony can carry more emotion and feeling than a piano because of the dynamics supplied that only the other instruments can provide.”

“I still feel a piano is better at conveying emotion because it is more intimate. It is like it is speaking to you and you alone. A symphony speaks to volumes of people, but a piano is bare and vulnerable which allows you to pour your heart out through your fingertips like a tenderly penned love letter.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, when did love become the only emotion you were arguing about?” Tom waggled his eyebrows, “Something you all want to tell us?”

“Uh…” Adrien coughed nervously, “I’m going to shut up now.”

“Because a symphony can convey the emotion of an army unlike any piano known,” Tom nodded with finality, “Look at the shear power you can hear behind The Imperial March.”

“YES! Thank you!” Marinette waved her hand emphatically.

Sabine sighed, “Yes, but just listen to the sadness in Satie’s Gymnopedies. There’s a nostalgia and sorrow, but it is still extremely beautiful.”

“I absolutely adore Satie,” Adrien hummed, “Number four is my favorite piece to play, of all time.”

Marinette’s eyebrows furrowed, “I don’t even think I know that one.”

Adrien leaned over, his shoulder nudging her own, and whispered, “I will play it for you.”

She turned and their eyes met. His were heavy with emotion and she felt warmth spread through her. His statement would sound casual to anyone listening in, but Marinette saw it for what it was. She could just as easily look up and listen to the song on the internet, but Adrien was offering to play it just for her. Here he’d just argued passionately that the piano was intimate and emotional; or ‘Pouring your heart out through your fingertips like a tenderly penned love letter.’

“Okay,” she squeaked in reply.

Sabine looked over at the two sitting amiably on the couch, a very small space between them. “Adrien, I’ll make up the couch here for you tonight, dear, but tomorrow you will have to sleep up with Marinette.”

Tom began to splutter, his hot tea glistening in his mustache.

“Swallow and then breathe, dear,” Sabine winked, “Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we’ll need the space for gifts.”

Tom, after regaining his composure, nodded, “Yes. You’ll sleep in Marinette’s room.”

Sabine didn’t look at her husband, her face freezing its features in frustration, “As I said, sweetie.”

“Yes,” Tom nodded, “Quite right.”

“I’ll go and get some bedding,” Sabine nodded and stood to find some blankets.

Tom stood and followed after, “I’ll just, uh, go help.”

Adrien grinned and threw his arm around Marinette’s shoulders. With one slight tug he had her leaning against his chest. She was warm snuggled up against him. It was the first time, in a long time, that he felt safe and secure, like he belonged. It had never been clearer--there was no place he’d rather be.


	23. Day 23: All I Want For Christmas Is You

“Wake up, sleepy head.”

Adrien rolled over, his face coming into contact with something soft. “Nnngh.”

Fingers combed through his hair and he arched his back to press his head into the touch.

There was a giggle, giddy and beautiful in his ear.

A voice, closer now, whispered, “How did you sleep, my cuddly kitty.”

His fingers clasped around a comforter that was draped over him and he tucked his knees up tighter to his chest. This was a dream, a beautiful dream, but it wasn’t real.

“Brrr,” the voice whispered, “It’s so cold. Scoot and share.”

There was a moment of chill, before warmth ran clear up his back, and he felt encompassed by a tight hug. This was one of the best dreams he’d had in a while.

“Hmm…” he hummed happily and pulled the hug tighter around himself. Then his hug shivered.

“Adrien, you’re going to be late to breakfast. Maman and papa still have to work and they wanted us to join them.”

Adrien hummed drowsily, but it sounded as if he was listening, so Marinette continued.

“They gave me the day off. I wanted to do something fun! Maman and papa will be up all night wrapping in here, which is why you can’t sleep on the couch. They claim this as ‘their spot’ the night before Christmas Eve. It’s a tradition. I’ve just always accepted it thus.” She paused when he didn’t respond, “You don’t mind do you?”

Adrien didn’t move and Marinette grumbled to herself. She’d have to just wait and appreciate him for the stubborn cat he was. There’d always been this idea that he was an early riser, but apparently that was only on work and school days.

Marinette leaned forward and nuzzled into the back of his neck.

His eyes shot open. “Whaaa…” Adrien’s awareness went from a barely conscious to fully alert in half a second as he felt her cold nose at the base of his neck. An unexpected tremor sparked down his spine and his shoulders pulled up to his cheeks in response.

Marinette giggled, “Did that tickle?”

Adrien blinked a couple times and nodded dumbly. His brain wasn’t capable of voicing a complete thought. He was still having trouble assessing his current situation; it appeared he hadn’t been dreaming and Marinette was wrapped around him. That explained why all of a sudden there was a draft beneath his blanket.

His hyperawareness magnified the sensation when she grabbed a fist full of his shirt. He could feel her fingertips graze his chest where his heart was pounding. As if reading his mind, she flattened her hand and rubbed her fingers against his chest soothingly.

“Adrien, your heart is beating really hard. Are you okay?”

He felt her pull away from him, the space robbing him of her warmth, and he nodded, “Yeah. I’m fine.” Words! _Way to go, Agreste_.

Marinette laid back down and he practically melted.

“You don’t feel fine.”

 _Okay, play it cool._ “You woke me up,” he muttered. It wasn’t a lie.

“Sorry,” she huffed.

He could feel the air move behind his ear and broke out in goosebumps.

“Maman and papa wanted us to join them for breakfast. Their hours are shorter today, being the day before Christmas Eve, but they still have to open at nine.”

While she was talking, Adrien realized she hadn’t wrapped her arms back around him. With a huff, he reached up to his side, where her hand was resting, and pulled it around him with a self-satisfied wiggle. “What time is it?”

Marinette grinned, “7:45.”

“Can we lay like this for a while longer? It’s nice.”

As if in answer, Marinette dropped her head to the pillow and scooted impossibly closer to him, “Of course.”

* * *

“There they are!!” Tom boomed as Marinette and Adrien joined them in the bakery kitchen downstairs. He was shifting pans; cooked bread out of the oven and raw dough in. Sabine stood next to him pinching off rolls and tossing them on to the freshly emptied pans.

“How did you sleep, Adrien?” Sabine grinned as she kicked a stool out for him to take a seat. It looked like an action she’d performed dozens of times before.

He threw his leg over the top and scooted up to the counter, “Like a rock. I think that’s the best sleep I’ve had in a long time.”

“On the couch?” Sabine’s eyebrow rose incredulously.

Tom gave his wife a withering stare, and said her name in a warning tone, “Sabine…” Roughly translated in husband-wife speech that said _don’t start._

Since her husband rarely asserted a point forcefully, and has passive-aggressively voiced how strongly he felt about leaving the subject alone, Sabine huffed and got back to pinching rolls.

“It is a rather comfortable couch,” Marinette grinned as she sat next to Adrien on the next barstool over. She gave a little shoulder nudge, “Don’t you think?”

Adrien hid his smile behind his clamped fists and blushed. It was especially so for the last fifteen minutes he was on it.

Sabine’s eyebrow rose as she stared at Marinette, “Oh?”

“I woke him up this morning,” Marinette waved her hand nonchalantly.

Tom’s ears perked up and he turned, “Nicely, I hope.”

“Maybe _too_ nice,” Sabine crooned

Marinette’s eyes widened at the insinuation, “Maman!?”

Her mother merely answered with a smirk while Adrien sat there oblivious.

“She was nice,” he grinned and glanced over to Marinette, “At least I liked it.”

Marinette let out a pitiful whine to which her mother burst out laughing. Tom and Adrien glanced between them confused.

“I don’t think I want to know,” Tom finally mumbled before going back to his baking. This time he was whipping together dough for baguettes.

“So is breakfast done?” Marinette asked after a moment of silence.

“Yeah, yeah,” Tom nodded and glanced at his watch, “We’ll join you. Just one more minute for me to get these rolls out and I’ll be with you.”

Sabine walked over to their industrial proofing oven and popped her pan of rolls inside.

“I’m ready,” she announced happily and pulled out another pan from the proofing oven. They sometimes used the proofing oven to keep thing warm.

Adrien’s eyes widened and he squirmed with giddy abandon as Sabine dropped a bowl of steaming hot croissants in front of them and a plate full of assorted spreads and butter. He thought this was it! Well, that was until she brought over a tray with chocolate filled pastries and he literally trilled with glee.

“We can tell you’ve never done this before,” Marinette chuckled at his poorly restrained excitement.

“NO!” he chirped excitedly and grabbed a couple croissants in one hand and a chocolate filled puff pastry with the other. “This is great!” Then he glanced to Marinette, “Don’t tell anyone.”

“My lips are sealed,” she said as she made a zipping motion and throwing away the key. “It’s not like you couldn’t use the extra calories.”

He scoffed, “Not like you ever minded before.”

Marinette rolled her eyes and whispered, “I was too afraid to look at your ass before.”

At that, Adrien began choking on his croissant and Marinette patted his back while laughing.  
”What did you do?” Sabine asked in alarm.

“Why did it have to be something I did?”

“Because I know you,” she said as her eyes narrowed.

Marinette nodded, “I might have said something…”

“And…”

“And I won’t repeat it.”

Adrien sat up, looking down at the counter, and shaking his head, “I don’t even know what to say to you right now.” He refused to look at her for his own self-preservation.

Her hands stopped patting and rubbed soothing circles on his upper back, “Sorry.”

He smirked, “Don’t be.”

Marinette had to stifle her chuckle. He’d finally gotten control of his emotions enough to participate in her antics and it was beautiful.

Adrien put down half a dozen croissants and three more cream puffs before he hit the custard her father produced from the oven.

* * *

The rest of the day she and Adrien cuddled up on the couch to watch Korean dramas and anime. They hadn’t realized how much time had passed until Marinette awoke. She was still curled up between Adrien’s bent legs, her head on his chest, and her arms on either side. Their blanket was wrapped up around them like a cocoon and her father was grinning down at them.

“Wake up, sleepy heads. We need to get some wrapping done.”

Marinette sat up just enough to catch a glimpse of a softly breathing Adrien. His head was leaned back against the arm of the couch with his mouth slightly parted.

She must have been staring.

“Ahem,” her father cleared his throat, “Why don’t you take him upstairs. Your mother already fixed the bed up for him.”

“Okay,” she nodded and started to get up.

Adrien’s arms wrapped around her and pulled her close, “Nooo,” he whined, “Stay here. Warm.”

“We have to go.” Marinette reached up to run her fingers through his hair, “You have to wake up. The bed is made upstairs.”

“Don’t want to,” he shook his head.

“Come on,” she forcefully pushed herself up and Adrien rolled over into a fetal position, pulling his legs up to his chest in her absence. He looked like a child like that, fragile and vulnerable, and Marinette had a fleeting desire to splash him with water. She smiled at the thought, but didn’t. It was too sweet. Instead, she leaned over and started to collect him in her arms when her dad grabbed her shoulders.

“What are you doing?” he asked confused.

“You said I should take him upstairs,” she shrugged.

Tom burst out laughing, his boisterous energy jarring Adrien from his sleep, “I meant wake him up and convince him to go upstairs, not carry him. Marinette, just because you _can_ doesn’t mean you _should._ ” Her dad shook his head, still chuckling, as he went to find Sabine.

“What’s going on?” Adrien muttered as his eyes blinked drowsily.

“We have to go upstairs. Maman and papa need to wrap gifts so we’re being kicked out until tomorrow morning.”

“Oh,” he nodded, “Okay.”

Marinette grinned at his groggy state. Even though he was ‘awake’ and he wasn’t really with it. She could tell.

She guided him to the stairs with a hand pressed into the small of his back. Her hand remained raised the entire way up the stairs in case he wobbled backwards.

They walked in through the trap door and Adrien walked across her room. The only thing was, his feet didn’t stop as he crossed in front of the fully made chaise. No, he kept shuffling across the way, up the stairs, and flopped ungracefully; face first, onto _her_ bed.

The moment finally caught up to her, as she hastily chased after him, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, kitty! That’s my bed. You have the chaise.”

No response.

“I’m not sleeping on the chaise,” she sing-songed as she leaned forward. A snort was her only response. “This is so not cool.”

As if in reply, he shifted and two arm reached out to wrap around her. Marinette lurched forward with an ‘oof’ as she came to rest next to him on the bed. She was awkwardly lying half on her side, and half on her stomach, facing away from him.

“Adrien,” she whined. After a resigned huff, she turned over in his arms. A feat, of course as his arms tightened when she tried to move. “You are awfully cuddly, aren’t you?”

Well, it was futile to fight him in his sleep. From what she could tell, he was even more stubborn unconscious than awake.

She raised her hand to brush his golden bangs out of his eyes and gazed peacefully on his sleeping face. It struck her, like lightning, the privilege she had to gaze on him like this, vulnerable and peaceful in his slumber.

“Stop staring. It’s creeping me out.” Plagg wandered up in front of her face and she jerked back suddenly.

“Plagg! You scared the crap out of me.”

“Yeah, yeah, long time, no see. I missed you too, toots.”

Tikki giggled, “You could just come out and talk to her once in a while.”

“I don’t do desperate,” he sighed and rubbed a little back paw on his chest.

“Says who?!” Tikki winked.

Plagg glared, scandalized, and whined, “Tikkkiii…”

“Night, Marinette,” Tikki grinned and took a hold of Plagg to pull him off to her sleeping spot.

“Night, you two,” she gave a finger wave and sighed, “He has a point. I shouldn’t just stare.” With that, she leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. A soft hum escaped him in response. “Sleep well, Chaton.”


	24. Day 24: Santa Baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this has taken so long. Life gets busy and I run out of time. It is not looking like I'm going to have much more any time soon. BUT...I'm trying. :)

Marinette woke with a smile as she felt the arms that had held her all night tighten around her as she stretched. She rolled over to face him and was met with a still soundly sleeping Adrien, though his arms were tightly fastened around her middle.

His eyelids fluttered a little and she could tell he was dreaming by the involuntary muscle twitches on his face.

Suddenly, his arms tightened more around her and his face scrunched up like it was in pain. Marinette frowned. Adrien should be having good dreams. It’s almost Christmas.

“No,” he whined. “Don’t…don’t…maman.”

It was obvious what he was dreaming about now, but Marinette didn’t know what to do for him. She wanted to comfort him, to tell him he was okay, but would he hear her?

She reached out and ran her fingers through his hair, smoothing it against his head and lightly scratching his scalp as she drew lazy circles on his scalp.

“Shhh,” she shushed and spoke in a soft voice, “It’s all right, Adrien. You’re okay now. I’ve got you.”

He quieted and snuggled close to her. His muscles relaxed and his soft breathing resumed.

It took some finagling, but Marinette managed to wriggle out of his grasp. She snuck downstairs and a delicious smell reached her nostrils. _This_ was what told her the bakery wasn’t opening today. She…smelled…coffee.

“Maman!” she squealed happily, “You are the best mother ever.”

“I’m glad you feel that way, dear. Oh, and I made coffee, too.”

“And it’s amazing,” Marinette smiled as she walked up and hugged Sabine.

“How did you sleep?” Sabine asked with a bit of an edge to it.

Marinette knew this was coming, but instead of pretending Adrien slept on the futon, and spending an inordinate amount of time getting stories straight and trying to dance around the issue, she decided to treat it like a bandage. She wasn’t going to waste precious Christmas time on awkwardness. Plus, her parents would eventually find out. Might as well tackle it head on, with honesty, “Adrien stole my bed, but otherwise I slept pretty well.”

Sabine retrieved two cups from the cabinet and set them on the counter. She added a teaspoon of sugar to one, and poured coffee in it, before pushing the other to her daughter.

“Could I have two?”

Her mother nodded and smiled before retrieving a third and sliding it towards her daughter.

“I didn’t think the chaise was all that comfortable,” her mother muttered. She added a splash of milk and held the cup to her lips.

“It’s not.”

Sabine nodded and took a drink.

Marinette smirked, “That’s why I didn’t sleep on it.”

The gulp was audible, and Sabine spluttered as she set her cup on the counter, wiping at her wet lips, “Marinette Louise…”

“What?”

“That wasn’t very nice.”

Marinette shrugged, “Couldn’t let you think that I did when I didn’t.”

Sabine rolled her eyes and reclaimed her coffee cup, “Sometimes I wish you would.”

“He was a perfect gentleman,” Marinette added to ease her mother’s worry.

However, that wasn’t what Sabine had meant. “I’m sure _he_ was. It’s you I worry about.”

“ME?!? I’ll have you know, I behaved, too.”

“This time,” Sabine nodded and walked off.

“What do you mean by that? T _his time._ Maman?” she called after her, but Sabine was already walking towards her bedroom and her currently sleeping husband.

Marinette shook her head and walked up the stairs to her bedroom, two coffee cups wrapped up precariously against her ribcage, as she pushed the trapdoor open. Adrien was still asleep as she set the cups down.

It only took a few moments before she saw his head pop up off of the pillow, “Coffee?” he mumbled sleepily.

“Good morning,” she grinned.

Adrien rolled over lazily and stretched his arms far above his head. His toes pointed opposite of his fingers as he arched his back and groaned. Marinette giggled when he ran his fingers through his messy hair, his lips smacking together slowly.  
”Would you like some?” Marinette held the coffee cup up.

“Yeeessss,” he hissed and nodded. His feet dropped like lead weights next to the bed, with a thump, and he wobbled down the stairs all the way to where Marinette waited with an outstretched hot cup of coffee. “Truly nectar of the Gods,” he hummed as he took that first sip and his eyes slid shut.

“It’s just—“

“ACH—“ a finger popped up in front of her face and she stared up at him.

“Cof—“

“Ssshh…” His eyes closed and he sighed.

Marinette watched amusedly as Adrien took another slow, reverent sip of his coffee. There was a measured, relaxed exhale through his nose and she could see his head tip back slightly. It was funny to watch how he just melted.

“Can I talk now?” she whispered.

One of his eyes popped open, glaring at her, “I suppose.”

“It’s just coffee.”

Adrien took a seat next to her, contemplating whether or not he would dignify her comment with a response. He finally sighed, “Saying it is ‘just coffee’ is like saying oxygen is ‘just air.’”

She giggled, “I get it. You love coffee. I just didn’t realize how much.”

“It’s a morning thing,” he grumbled. “Speaking of mornings, didn’t you say you’d wake me up by running your fingers through my hair?”

“Not every morning,” she grinned as she remembered the morning after their slumber party at his house. She reached over and ran her fingers through his hair. He hummed happily as his eyes rolled back in his head.

“Ahh…” he finally sighed, “Why not every morning?”

Marinette grinned, “Because we don’t wake up in the same place, you goof.”

“Why not?” he peeked his eyes open to glance over at her.

Marinette thought he was joking. The thing was, the more silence that passed the more she was aware that he was being serious.

“What do you mean? You live three blocks away.”

“And…? You have a magic stone that allows you to travel. So do I. There is no reason we can’t wake up together.”

Marinette leaned over and wrapped her arm around his middle, “You realize you sound really needy, right?”

He pouted, “I just know what I like. I don’t see a problem with going after what I want.”

Marinette nodded next to him and grinned, “I’ll consider it.”

* * *

Adrien and Marinette tore through breakfast with hearty abandon. Tom, in his Christmas Eve exuberance, and extra time thanks to his day off, went all out. Omelet, hearty fillings, freshly baked pastries, juice, and coffee.

Both teens brought their ravenous appetites and ate their fair share and some. Marinette sat around for an hour afterwards moaning on the couch and lamenting that she hadn’t stopped at two omelets and three puffs. Adrien had eaten the same, but appeared to be handling the amount of food much better than Marinette had.

“What do you do on Christmas Eve?” Adrien asked from his perch on the end of the couch. It was officially in full swing, as the afternoon was fast approaching. Marinette wasn’t anywhere near ready for lunch after their giant breakfast that morning.

“Well,” Marinette blushed and looked away, “I thought we’d retire early tonight and watch movies or something.”

“That would be fun,” he grinned.

“I have something special planned,” she grinned. Then she quickly added with a nose bop, “But I’m not telling you what it is.”

Adrien had already leaned forward to inquire when she stopped him. He pouted, “Secrets don’t make friends.”

It was innocent enough a response, and he gulped when Marinette’s expression turned sultry.

“Who says I wanted to be _friends_?” she cooed seductively.

His face erupted in a fiery blush, eyes wide. He didn’t say anything as she had rendered him speechless. His reaction time was not stellar, either, as she’d already giggled and walked away, a perfectly innocent expression on her face.

“Oh God,” he sighed and leaned back to rub his hands down his face. She had way too much power over him. It was a moment later, as he glared at the pillow secured firmly in his lap, that he realized he might have miscalculated Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Plagg peeked up from his collar, “You do realize that the princess did not appreciate sleeping on the pea, correct?” Then Plagg cackled, “Ah, well, I guess she doesn’t plan on doing much _sleeping_ , does she?”

Adrien shooed him off with a frustrated grunt. This was the ‘put up or shut up’ moment and he wasn’t going to let her get the best of him. He was Chat Noir for Pete’s sake!

The day moved a lot faster than Adrien had anticipated. They watched movies and made popcorn. He and Marinette prepared supper, a roasted hen with herbed vegetables and a hearty jus. Marinette hummed the entire time, oblivious to his inner turmoil. He had no idea what to expect from her, but wanted to be able to meet her, toe to toe, without looking foolish.

Three movies, a game of monopoly, two games of rummy, and a meal of roasted chicken with wine and butter herbed vegetables and Adrien was still trying to figure out what kind of surprise Marinette had planned. He’d been trying to psych himself up for anything, but she was so unpredictable lately. The past few days she’d been acting _different._ It was the only way he could describe her behavior. She’d been flirty, and funny, and just more friendly than he was used to in a very physical sort of way.

“I think it’s about time for this old man to head to bed,” Tom boomed and pushed himself to a standing position, “It’s been fun, but I’ll have to call it a night and see you all tomorrow.”

Sabine waved him off with a smile, “I’ll be right behind you, honey.”

Marinette had her feet curled up under her bottom, but her knees were leaning over into Adrien’s lap. One of his arms was draped lazily over her thighs while the other was sending text messages on his phone.

Adrien to Nino: She said surprise. I don’t know what to think.

N to Ad: I wouldn’t know what it was. Alya says she has no idea. I’d say just go with it. Let us know later!

Ad to N: I might. That all depends on what it is.  
N to Ad: Fine. Be that way. :P

Ad to N: Joyeux Noelle!

N to Ad: Joyeux Noelle!

“Hey, Adrien?”

Oh, God, she was looking at him.

“Yes?”

“I think we should probably turn in, too.”

Sabine leaned across from her side of the L shaped couch, and clasped Adrien’s hand, “Honey, we’ve loved having you here with us. I hope you feel like you belong here as much as we feel you do.”

Adrien swallowed to loosen the lump of emotion that had suddenly lodged itself in the back of his throat. His eyes misted slightly and he nodded, “This has been the best Christmas I’ve had in a long time.”

“I’m glad. Now you two go to bed and we’ll continue having fun tomorrow,” Sabine grinned.

* * *

Marinette lead Adrien up the stairs towards her room. His feet dragged behind him like lead weights. Marinette thought he was merely tired, which encouraged a pouty expression to take residence on her face.

She glanced behind her, “Are you really that tired?”

Adrien glanced up at her, like a deer caught in headlights, and shook his head of the foggy stupor, “Uh, no, no, not really. I mean, yeah. I guess. It’s kind of late. Aren’t you?”

Marinette took half of her bottom lip between her lip to keep from laughing at him. Adrien seemed rather flustered and it was adorable.

“Not really,” she faced forward and grinned mischievously to herself. This could be fun.

Adrien sat on the chaise in her room. It was made up to be a bed again, but this time there were no pillows and only a note that said, “Your pillows are on Marinette’s bed, but if you get tired of her hogging the blankets, this is a back-up. Love, Sabine.”

Adrien chuckled nervously at the note before tucking it swiftly into his back pocket. Oh, her family was both embarrassing and spunky…he secretly loved it; very secretly, as evidenced by the stashed note in his pocket.

“What was that?” Marinette glanced over at him.

“Nothing…nothing important. She was just telling me where my pillow was.”

“Oh, okay!” Marinette grinned, “I’m going to go change clothes. You can change in here if you like.”

“Uh, okay. Sure,” he nodded and stood. He spun around in circles a couple times before he located his black duffle at the foot of the chaise. Marinette giggled at him as she stepped out of the room.

It took her a while to return. He assumed she’d washed her face and whatnot considering her hair was a little damp around the edges. Her night robe was tied loosely around the middle.

Adrien made his way to stand, from his lazy position on the chaise, but Marinette pushed him back down with a finger.

“No, no, you stay there.” Then she sashayed over to her computer and pushed ‘play’ on a song that had been cued up behind her screensaver.

An instrumental of ‘Santa Baby’ played through the speakers…’Ba-doom, ba-doom, ba-doom…’

Meanwhile, Marinette was slowly slinking back up to him with a predatory glint in her eye. There might have been a touch of nervousness, but with a quick shake of her head it was gone.

Marinette had actually been spending the last five minutes, downstairs, in the bathroom psyching herself up to do this. She splashed cold water on her face before heading up. She was Ladybug, dang it. This was a piece of cake. She’d climbed in a dinosaur’s mouth for Pete’s sake.

She dropped the robe and he knew he was screwed. She stood there in a tight red negligee, quarter panel ribbing, and trimmed all in black. A plush red santa hat was perched on top. Once she reached him, she took it off and dropped it onto the top of his head. Adrien listened intently as she began to sing, but immediately noticed the lyrics had been changed slightly.

_Santa Baby just slip yourself right under the tree, for me_

_I’ve been an awful good girl, Santa Baby_

_So hurry down the chimney tonight_

Marinette tickled beneath his chin with her fingertips just as she would a cat. Adrien did not relax, however, as his eyes widened monumentally.

 

 _Santa Baby, your gorgeous face, adorable, too, just you_ (Nose boop.)

_I’ll wait up for you, dear_

_Santa Baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight_

Marinette decided now was a good time to sit on his lap. She draped her arm around his shoulders and donned a pout.

 

_Think of all the times we’ve missed_

_All the situations where we could have kissed_

_Next year I’ll be twice as good_

_If you’ll check off my Christmas list_

_Boo boom, boo boom_

She shifted slightly, dropping one knee to either side of his waist. Adrien’s breath hitched as she loosely draped both arms around his neck. Her cleavage, blocked mostly by an extremely large bow, was his saving grace as prayed for his body cooperate and remain calm. His hands gently landed on either hip.

 

_Santa baby, I wanna cuddle, really that’s_

_Not…a lot_

_I’ve been **your lady** all year_

_Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight_

Marinette leaned forward, impossibly closer, and gazed up at him with seductive eyes. The heat was tangible.

 

_Santa honey, one little thing I really need, **the** ‘deed’_

A finger ran up his torso and he yelped.

_We can schedule a time_

_Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight_

A mischievous grin erupted across her face and she placed her lips right up next to his ear.

 

_Santa cutie, just fill my stocking full with durex, for… **ahem**_

_I’ll provide all the wine_

_Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight_

Marinette leaned back and ran a hand alluringly down her front towards her abdomen.

 

_Come and trim my ‘Christmas tree’_

_With some decorations you’ve made just for me_

She placed a strategic fingertip to his chest and Adrien didn’t even try to control himself anymore. There was no point. Her actions had had the intended affect.

_I really do believe in you_

_Let’s see if you believe in me_

_Boo boom, boo boom_

 

_Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing, a ring_

_I don’t mean on the phone_

She said this with a wink, but Adrien wasn’t sure if she was serious or not. At this point, he didn’t even care.

_Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight_

_Hurry down the chimney tonight_

_Hurry down the chimney tonight_

_Hurry…tonight._

As the song wrapped up, she gazed up at him and smirked, “Well? Aren’t you going to open your present?”

Adrien glanced down at the large bow she gazed pointedly at. With trembling hands, no longer on her hips, he pulled at the two ends of the bow. It pulled away to reveal a breathtaking sight; two lusciously plump breasts and…now wait a sec. He retrieved the card that was stashed within her cleavage and hastily opened it. It was _his_ card, the one he’d given her a couple weeks ago, she had scratched out ‘date with’ and replaced it with ‘boyfriend.’ It said, ‘Good for one boyfriend, Adrien Agreste.’

Beside himself with glee, completely forgetting her sexy display, he beamed up at her, “Are you serious?! You’ll be my girlfriend?”

Marinette blushed, not during her lurid display, no, but at the unbridled exuberance on Adrien’s face. “Of course I will!”

With a whoop, he wrapped both of his arms around her and stood up to spin her around. “I can’t believe it, Marinette! You have no idea how happy you have made me.”

“I have an idea,” she giggled.

He quickly bound up to her bed and dropped her gently onto it, lingering above her on his knee and outstretched arms.

“That was the best present ever!”

“Just part of it. Would you like to unwrap the rest?” she asked as she glanced between them.

“Hell yes.”

“Then please do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I'm keeping the rating at T, but this is where you should insert your M scene fantasies now...


	25. Day 25: Somewhere In My Memories

There was a cold prickling feeling on his skin, but he was so tired he couldn’t open his eyes.

“Marinette,” Adrien whined as he rolled away from the sensation. His hands came into contact with the warmth of bare skin and he smiled to contentedly to himself. “Hmmm,” he hummed as he nuzzled into her neck.

There was a giggle from above them.

“Plagg, shut that window!!” Tikki screeched.

“But it’s snowing!” he whined.

“Yes, I can see that,” she explained, “But now it is snowing on them in the house!”

Plagg snickered, but let the trap door drop to close out the cold and the wintry weather.

“They ought to get up,” Plagg smirked, “Mama Sabine is coming.”

“Oh, no, hide!!” Tikki squealed.

“Don’t hide on my account,” Sabine whispered with a hush, “I’m just bringing coffee.”

Tikki and Plagg froze in mid-air about ten feet ahead of Sabine herself, “I even brought some appetizers.” She gestured to the slices of cheese and cookies.

Plagg and Tikki exchanged quizzical looks before breaking into grins.

“You owe me extra pats!” Plagg exclaimed and pointed at Tikki, “I knew she knew. I knew it. I knew it.”

“Shut up,” Tikki hissed, “They don’t know she knows and we ought to just let it stay that way.”

“Why? What’s the point? And where’s the fun in that?” Plagg grumbled back.

“It’s more fun…for me,” Tikki gave Sabine a sly wink and Plagg’s jaw dropped.

His mouth popped open like he was about to start shouting when Tikki wrapped her pods around him and shushed him violently.

“You’re going to ruin it,” she whispered. “Let’s go and I’ll explain.”

“You better,” he growled.

“Rise and shine!” Sabine called up to the mezzanine with a cheery smile. She set a little tea pot on Marinette’s desk and produced tow coffee cups from the pockets in the apron she was wearing, “The coffee is hot.”

On the tray, with the pot, was milk, sugar, and some danishes.

Marinette squirmed in her sleep and pulled the blanket up around her head with a groan.

“Merry Christmas, lazy bones!” Sabine chuckled, “You two must have had a late night if Marinette is sleeping in on Christmas.” Sabine’s eyes twinkled knowingly.

“Mmmhmm,” Adrien hummed sleepily.

Then, as if robbed of breath by a great wind, a pillow came flying across his face.

“Owwww,” he whined before a hand wriggled up to muffle his groans.

“Shhh,” a voice hissed in his ear. Marinette burrowed down next to him and playfully booped his nose.

“You might as well come down and drink it while it’s hot.”

Marinette stayed silent and begged Adrien to stay still. However, Adrien had no intention as he sat up and beamed at Sabine, “Good morning!!”

There was a scandalized gasp from beneath the sheet. First, Marinette was shocked he’d so blatantly disregard her desire to keep this from becoming awkward, and second, that he could just ‘pop up like a daisy’ for her mother, but be a horribly sluggish kitten with her.

“Good morning, Adrien. Now could you convince Marinette to wake up as well?”

He smirked and glanced down at the still covered lump, “No need. She’s awake. She was covering my mouth just a second ago. I’m sure she’s just embarrassed.”

Sabine laughed loudly, “And you are rather cheeky this morning, as well.”

Adrien blushed, “A morning thing…I think.”

At this, Marinette groweled, “Mom, this isn’t what it looks like.”

“You and Adrien didn’t sleep together?” she asked jokingly.

“NO!” Marinette exclaimed and launched up out of the sheet. Her static lifted hair splayed off in all directions and her face pinked, “Okay, we might have messed around, but we didn’t sleep together…like that.”

Sabine cleared her throat knowingly and nodded, “I was merely implying proximity during your slumber, but if you would like to elaborate, I am an enlightened woman.”

Adrien began coughing spastically and flopped back to bury his face in Marinette’s pillow with a pained whine. Marinette glanced between him and her mother and rolled her eyes.

“No. No, no, thank you, but I’ve already said enough.”

“I take it you found the condoms in your side table.”

“MAMAN!!!” Marinette exclaimed, “Could you not?”

“Fine, fine. Don’t mind me. I’ll just leave you two to _it._ Don’t forget…side table dra—“

“MOM!”

Sabine cackled as she left the room. Marinette rolled over to attempt to chisel Adrien’s head out of the pillow. Eventually, she opted for running her fingers through his hair.

“That could have gone better, huh?”

His pained whine of humiliation made her smile. It was adorable. Though she was partially embarrassed, she was sure it paled in comparison to how he felt in that moment. After all, she knew her parents were used to this sort of behavior from her, Adrien, on the other hand, perfect model son, was not nearly as accustomed to fouling up and getting caught. Chat Noir was a way he could act out those pent up desires to just let lose and be, but he was not used to doing so as himself.

“It’s fine,” she laughed and ran her fingers through his hair again, this time more deeply and taking extra care to run her fingernails softly up and behind his ears the way she knew he liked.

He groaned and rolled over, his eyes still shut and a plump pink lip held tightly between his teeth.

“Would you like to have some coffee first before we head down? She did go through all the trouble of bringing it up. It would be a shame to let it go to waste.”

He nodded, but still didn’t move. An arm lifted up and dropped across his forehead. Marinette, seeing the broad expanse of pale flesh exposed to her, couldn’t resist running her palms along the length of him. She’d never seen a more impressive chest before; in pictures or in person. She felt very fortunate that she could lean forward and placed a kiss to it, which she promptly did. A soft hum followed through the nose of said kissed guy.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been as mortified…” he started.

Marinette thought back to that time when Chat Noir’s suit didn’t quite fit, during the peak of puberty, and started to wage her disagreement when a hand covered her mouth.

“Don’t say it. Okay, close second or third,” he agreed.

She was met with a sparkling humor dancing in his green eyes. Marinette grinned behind his hand and nodded.

“And yes, I’d love coffee. I have a feeling I’m going to need it.”

 

Sabine sat at the breakfast bar at the kitchen counter with a cup of her own coffee when a much more sufficiently dressed Marinette and Adrien appeared. She sipped her coffee knowingly and nodded to them both, “ _Gooood_ morning.”

Adrien blushed, just at the insinuation in her voice, “Good morning.”

“Morning, mama,” Marinette beamed as she bounced over to kiss her on the cheek. Her voice lowered to a whisper, “Behave.”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Sabine gave a quick thumbs up and smirked, “Like mother like daughter.”

“Good morning, my lovely family,” Tom boomed as he draped an arm around Adrien’s shoulders and grinned down at him, “Have you gotten taller over-night?”

“No…” Adrien responded, perplexed.

Tom leaned in and gave a good sniff, like a dog hunting for a bone. His brow dropped, “New cologne?”

Visibly nervous, Adrien shook his head, “No, sir.”

Tom shrugged, satisfied that nothing had changed, “Ah, well, you just appear much more _mature_ all of a sudden.”

At that, he and Sabine exchanged a smirk and she hid her chuckles behind her coffee cup.

Marinette walked up to her father and popped him once in the arm, “Papa, don’t tease him! He’s sensitive.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” Tom asked with the lingering mirth.

“Unbelievable. My parents are more immature than I am!” Marinette exclaimed in disbelief.

Both of her parents guffawed in response and Adrien glanced around bewildered.

“Don’t worry about it. I will NOT be explaining later. They know what they did and I’m sure they’ll be on their best behavior from here on out,” Marinette glared at both of her parents.

To which, Sabine nodded and glanced at her husband, “Ah, she has such high hopes for us dear.”

“She ought to know better,” he nodded.

Marinette ushered Adrien off to the couch and gently tucked him into the arm of it with a pillow and a blanket. It was at that moment, they both remembered it was Christmas. There were presents spilling out from beneath the tree and out into the rest of the living room. Brightly wrapped boxes with ribbons and bows, glistening paper, and gift tags fastened beneath the tendrils.

“There’s so many!” Marinette exclaimed, glancing back to her parents in disbelief.

Christmas had always been a festive holiday in their house, but it wasn’t about presents. It was about family. She was shocked to see so many packages sitting beneath their tree.

“We have a new member this year,” Tom announced proudly as he beamed over at a sleepy Adrien.

Adrien perked up instantly, overjoyed to be considered part of the family.

“Besides, we realized there are more material needs with age and none of us are getting any younger,” Sabine added.

Tom snickered as he ran his fingers playfully through his mustache.

Marinette glanced over to Adrien and then back to her parents, “I feel like I should be insulted, yet I don’t have any argument to support why.”

Adrien reached an arm over to where she was sitting, perched on the edge of the couch, and pulled her close to him, “Shhhh…” He patted her head playfully, like you would a small child, and chuckled, “I’m getting older, too.”

At about this point, Tom knelt down in front of the large pile of gifts and pulled a few big parcels out of the masses and handed them to the rest of the family.

Sabine took hers graciously and grinned. “I wonder what this could be,” she mused sarcastically.

“Why, dear, I do not know,” Tom played along.

They both opened their packages to reveal new thick wool scarves; his was a charcoal gray and hers was a beige.

Marinette opened hers and a scarlet one rolled out onto her lap. “I love it!!” she exclaimed, “I needed a new scarf.”

“I know,” Sabine winked.

Adrien took his own and opened the gift. A black scarf, matching the rest, rolled out onto his lap. He picked it up and gingerly ran his thumb over the ‘AA’ embroidered along the bottom. “Did you make this?” he asked Sabine excitedly.

“I did,” she nodded.

“I didn’t know you knit!”

“Someone had to teach Marinette,” she smirked, “I even taught Tom.”

“I made yours,” Tom nodded towards Marinette. She lifted it up and found that at the bottom he’d tied little red tassels that were different lengths. If you held the scarf, short wise, they hung in a shape reminiscent of his mustache.

“Oh, papa, I love it!”

They opened gift after gift. Marinette got drawing supplies, fabric, various notions, a new handwritten cookbook from her father, jewelry crafted by her mother, and a new pair of insulated boots.

Adrien had gifts that similarly fit his own interests. A new pair of customized fencing gloves, a couple new video games, a handwritten cookbook from Tom, custom made tie pins from Sabine, a bunch of other things, and a little box. It was his last gift. He stared at the tag, perplexed.

_To Adrien, our sentinel out of sight and a purrfect delight. Paris model by day, guardian by night. You don’t fool us one bit. We love you as you are, no matter what._

He stared at it for a solid two minutes, unblinking and unsure of what to say. Eventually, unwrapped the gift and discovered a black velvet box. He lifted the top to find a pair of cufflinks. They were silver with black enamel paw prints.   
Suddenly, there was a voice next to his ear, “Oooh, those are _niiiice!!!”_ Plagg exclaimed reverently as he moved in close to get a better look.

“PLAGG!!!” Adrien squeaked and jumped back, snatching the little cat out of the air. He glanced over to Sabine and Tom nervously, cradling him against his chest in shock.

“Give him a chance to look at them in peace, Plagg, for heaven’s sake,” Sabine scolded, “They’re his present, after all.”

Plagg pouted in Adrien’s grip, “I wouldn’t be so pushy if you’d let me peek during wrapping.”

“If you’d peeked during wrapping you’d have run right to him and ruined the surprise,” Tom laughed.

The silence was deafening, you could almost hear the ‘plink-plink-plink’ of the two pairs of eyelids belonging to the teen superheroes.

Tikki flew up in front of Marinette this time and waved her little arms wildly in front of her, “Marinette!? Are you okay? I knew this was a bad idea.”

Suddenly, as if a switch flipped, Marinette launched off of the couch, her arms waving wildly in a windmill like fashion, “WHAT!!?!?!?! THE!?!??!! HELL!?!??!?!?!? HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN!?!?!”

Sabine leaned back and flinched at the screeching sounds emitting from her daughter’s mouth. “Uh…”

“Four years, two months, six days, and about three or so hours, give or take,” Tom stated guiltily twiddling his thumbs.

Adrien’s eyes rose skyward, his head turning to follow, doing the calculations in his head. “That means…” his hand covered his mouth as he stared at Tom and Sabine in shock, “You’ve known since…gahhh…”

“Figaross,” Sabine nodded

Adrien and Marinette exchanged nervous glances. They didn’t even know who their akuma fighting partner was at the time. Hell, they had only known for a few short months. Yet, it felt like they’d known for years…until now.

Figaross. He was the akuma that was humiliated by a childish prank. An opera singer, given an emetic before a performance so his understudy could go on instead, spent most of that evening hunched over a toilet retching. As it turns out, that was a turning poing in Chat and Ladybug’s relationship as well.

_“Give me your miraculous!!”_

_“Not this again,” Chat sighed and twirled his staff like a baton, “Don’t you know? Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”_

_“SILENCE!!” Figaross sang a booming opera note and  slime spewed his direction. He caught a chest full of it. Chat immediately hunched over; only, instead of vomiting like most people would, he began to gag._

_“CHAT NOIR!!” Ladybug exclaimed, rushing to his side, “Oh, no, what’s wrong with you?”_

_Previous victims, when hit by the burst of grotesque slime from the mouth of Figaross, would throw up and then have a break between episodes. Chat was getting no break. He just kept jerking and gagging._

_“Hair…ball…” he coughed between hacks._

_“Eww, gross,” Ladybug scrunched her eyes tightly shut. What could she do to help him? What do you do for a cat with a stuck hairball? Figaross, in her moment of contemplation, launched another shot of slime in her direction. Ladybug’s reflexes were too fast. She wrapped her arms around Chat and leapt off into the distance. “Lucky charm!” she shouted. A little tub dropped into her hands. “Lard?!”_

_Chat stared up at her, his eyes wide with shock. Though Ladybug was not aware, Adrien was panicking. A model…eating lard. His father would kill him if he ever found out. This was just the most ridiculous thing ever. No, he couldn’t do it._

_He stayed curled over on his hands and knees, while Ladybug approached with a palm full of sticky, clumpy, coagulated fat._

_“Hoooach…no…hooaaack…Ladybug…hooach…I can’t…”_

_“You HAVE to, Chat.”_

_“Hck…no.”_

_Ladybug clicked her tongue impatiently, “Well, I had hoped I wouldn’t have to do this. Come here, kitty.” Chat watched as she sat patiently next to him, her legs crossed, and beckoned him closer, “I’ll make it worth your while.”_

_It was incredibly tempting. Ever since he’d had the suit failure, Plagg’s own little practicle joke at his poor pubescent expense, he’d been dealing with Ladybug’s constant ridicule and strange, sudden distance. He hadn’t been pet for a long time._

_Consequences be damned, Chat crawled over to her and lied in her lap. His body still convulsed, but her gentle massaging of his now aching abdominal muscles was like a balm he never knew he needed. He very happily lapped the lard out of her hand. It took only a couple minutes for it to work as he lurched forward violently and a big brown mass of fiber came rolling out._

_“Eewww…” they exclaimed in unison just moments before Chat collapsed fully in her lap._

_“Owww…I hurt,” he sighed sadly. Ladybug began to remove her hand from his stomach, but he grabbed it firmly and pushed it back into place, “It’s still sore.”_

_Ladybug giggled and finished the massage before they ran back into the fray. That day their relationship changed just slightly. A tension dissipated and in its place was a comfort neither knew they’d needed with each other, or were aware had been missing._

“That was a bad…” Adrien mumbled as his eyes unfocused in the middle of the living room floor. “Bad, bad, bad.”

Marinette reached over and grabbed his hand, a smile on her lips, “It wasn’t that bad.” Then she turned to her parents accusingly, “Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“What would we say?” Tom asked. “We are your parents; we love you, but this was a part of your life that you’d already been doing for over a year. It wasn’t like we could tell you to stop.”

“I wouldn’t want you to stop,” Sabine smiled softly, “I worry, it is true, but every time I see you out there, saving Paris, I know that’s my baby girl and she’s making us proud.”

“You, too, Adrien,” Tom nodded his direction, “We’re very proud of you.”

Adrien’s eyes got misty and he glanced away, blinking rapidly.

“How did you know?” he wondered allowed, in awe.

“There’s a way people move,” Sabine smirked, “In your case, like a cat. I wasn’t sure, I had had my suspicions before. When Marinette insisted we watch one of your televised shows—“

“MAMAN!!!” Marinette exclaimed, scandalized.

“Well, you did. I just saw the way you moved when in that element. Then I saw you on television, from a distance, and I just knew. I couldn’t see your Chat Noir costume. All I saw was you in a black suit with a pair of cat ears.”

“Oh, God,” Adrien buried his face in both of his hands, “I hope…how many other people do you think know? That’s an easy connection to make. I need to be more careful.” He began to hyperventilate and Marinette laid a soothing hand on his back.

“No, no, no,” she shook her head, “I bet there’s more to it.”

Tom rubbed his chin nervously and cleared his throat.

“Papaaaaa…?”

“I _might_ have seen a flash of pink that day before I saw Ladybug swinging away from your balcony.”

“Were you spying on me?!” Marinette stood, incensed, that her parents would have suspected and then come up to spy.

“On you? Why would we?”

“You said you suspected…” the baffled look that she received was enough to tell she’d goofed, “You suspected Adrien.”

“Yes,” Tom nodded with a grin, “I just happened to take the trash out at the same time as that akuma.”

“You knew we were BOTH Ladybug and Chat Noir that day?”

“Well, we assumed Chat because you two were so nervous around each other all the time as yourselves that we just knew something was up,” Sabine snickered.

Adrien and Marinette exchanged nervous glances.

“Um, maman, papa, we didn’t know the other was…behind the mask…until September.”

“Yeah…” Adrien’s eyes flicked around the room nervously, “I thought Marinette hated me.”

“I actually really liked him,” she spoke simultaneously.

Laughter broke out around the room.

“Well, your obliviousness, and subsequent strange nervousness, gave us the wrong idea, but it was still right,” Sabine sassed, “It doesn’t matter how we came to that conclusion, but we did and we were right.”

“Thank goodness,” Tom smirked, “Because if we had found Plagg snooping around in our fridge, and NOT known you were Chat Noir beforehand, chances are we’d be having this conversation from a psych ward.”

“For sure!” Plagg cackled and tossed his head back to howl.

Tikki showed up then with her own smirk, “I really thought I’d have to resuscitate Plagg. When he was discovered he went limp and just laid there.”

“I picked him up, because I didn’t know what was going on, and just assumed that maybe this was a defense mechanism.”

“Which it was,” Plagg glared at Tikki.

“And totally unnecessary!” Tikki giggled. Plagg turned away to pout.

_“Hey, hey, are you okay? Did I frighten you?”_

_Plagg stayed still as a statue, trying hard not to give himself away._

_“How do you do it?” Tom lifted the still limp Plagg up and flipped him around, “No need to be shy. I know you eat my cheese. It has been disappearing more and more when Adrien comes to visit. How do you change him to Chat Noir? I know that tiny red bug talks to my Marinette late at night. If I give you a chunk of this camembert will you answer my questions?”_

“Plagg caved like a kitten does for a laser pointer. I mean, M. Dupain probably knows more about the miraculous than you two do.”

Plagg glared at his counterpart and smiled mischievously, “Yes, but I did not break character. _You_ blew it.”

“I was sick of watching you look foolish. I had to have pity on my poor defenseless little kitten,” Tikki cooed as she tried to coddle the kitty.

“Go, go, shoo, don’t touch me, don’t…I’m mad at you. I’m angry. _HISS_! I’m very ang…oooh, that…that feels… _nice._ ” His eyes drooped and his sneer softened into a dumb, sappy smile. His anger was…gone.

Marinette cast a flirty glance Adrien’s way and he blushed scarlet. That was a sure fire way to calm down his ire, too. The boy loved getting petted.

She squeezed his hand, the one she was still holding from earlier, and he lifted it to his lips to place a soft kiss on the back of her knuckles.

“SEE!” Sabine shriked, “He’s been kissing you like that since…the beginning. How could you not know each other?”

“Yes, Marinette, you let some random stranger kiss your hand repeatedly with nary a word to either your mother or I.”

“Gah,” Marinette groaned and took her hand back to bury her face in them, “I was under cover. Don’t you two know what that means? Plus, it wasn’t like he wasn’t faking it.” She peeked her eyes out to glance over at him, because suddenly another thought occurred to her, “You were faking it, weren’t you?”

Adrien’s palm pressed against his cheek as he turned his face away from her, his fingertips coming to rest on his lips in a damningly awkward confirmation.

“That’s a no, honey,” Sabine whispered soothingly.

“I _know_ mother,” Marinette squealed, “I just…I never knew.”

Tom guffawed, “Here they are, the brightest, most talented teens in Paris, and yet two of the most obtuse people on the planet.”

“Thanks, papa,” Marinette sulked. “This is Christmas. We’re supposed to be celebrating.”

“Well, I do believe you have already celebrated,” Sabine sassed with a knowing smirk.

Adrien and Tom both began coughing on their own inhalation.

Needless to say, breakfast was delayed that Christmas morning. It became more of a ‘brunch.’

When lunch time came around, Marinette and Adrien sat at the table in complete bewilderment as the elders went about their normal routine, though with breakfast foods instead of lunch. Their kwamis flitted about as if they had always done. Sabine wandered off to the kitchen to retrieve some more items for the table. Sabine thanked Tikki for her compliment to their baking labors. It was a routine exchange for the two.

Tikki flitted over to a large bowl of chopped cheese and playfully popped them into Plagg’s mouth while he returned fire with chopped fruits; grapes, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. Tikki was particularly fond of the sweet fruits.

Marinette and Adrien were finally beginning to find their appetites when…the kwamis disappeared instantaneously. Usually, they’d say that was the norm, but today nothing was normal.

Sabine walked back into the dining room with a puzzled expression, “And here we g--ahp…hmm…where’d they go?”

Marinette glanced over to Adrien who looked just as lost as she did when the front door opened with a large, boisterous, “JOYEUX NOEL!!!”

Alya and Nino stepped in, their arms weighed down with packages, but looking light as a feather due to their buoyant hearts.

“Joyeux Noel!” Tom stood and retrieved the packages from their arms.

“I think we’re late!” Alya smirked as she removed her scarf and coat.

“Right on time,” Tom disagreed, “Sit, sit. Sabine will get you a plate.”

“Breakfast for lunch?” Nino cheered excitedly, “Can you adopt me?”

“I thought we already did,” Sabine snickered.

It was true, that Marinette’s friend practically lived at their house. Even recently, Adrien had taken to visiting much more often even as himself. Though, if you included his visits as Chat, in the evenings, he practically lived there.

He had been fighting off constant complaints from both his father and Nathalie. Well, that was until his eighteenth birthday, which signaled a very particular change in his living arrangement at home. Nathalie was still told to keep constant tabs on him, but his father was not nearly as insistent with him being ‘home’ all the time. He still had to practice piano and Chinese, he fenced as often as ever, but it was in control of all his time in between now. He wasn’t carted home as soon as he was done.

Nino noticed how much Adrien and Alya both spent at Marinette’s and just sort of tagged along. It was the natural progression of things you could say.  He had been welcomed there ever since.

“Did you give him the thing?” Nino asked Marinette as he gave her a nudge.

“The thing?” she asked with confusion.

He jerked his head to the side and glanced over at Adrien, “The c-a-t.”

Marinette immediately bristled. Did Nino know, too? “OH!” she suddenly remembered, “No. I completely forgot it in my desk.”

Like a bolt, Marinette excused herself and raced back up to her bedroom.

“Well, looks like everyone’s done,” Sabine sighed and cleared the table.

Chattering voices were heard in the living room as the friends all waited for Marinette to return.

“I know, that game’s sweet!!” Nino laughed, “Even if you don’t ever let me win.”

“It really is,” Adrien agreed.

“Even though we’ve only played twice…”

Adrien blushed and looked away. Yes, he and Marinette had been spending a lot of time together and he hadn’t had opportunities to hang out with Nino.

“Sorry.”

“No, no, I’m just messing with you, dude. I get it. Dudettes are pretty awesome.”

Alya leaned over and gave his arm a squeeze.

“Got it!!”

“Took you long enough,” Alya observed.

Marinette glanced down at the little package, messily taped together, and grimaced, “Yeah, well, I had to wrap it. I’d sort of misplaced it and forgot about it.” She held it out and smiled, “Merry Christmas, Adrien.”

Adrien took the little package and squeezed it gently. “It’s soft,” he grinned and tore away the paper. The little black cat plush that tumbled out was completely unexpected. “Uh…” he glanced up to Marinette nervously and over at Nino.

“It was Nino’s idea,” she started before he could ask anything incriminating, “I HAD to buy it.”

“Yeah, yeah, squeeze it, bro. I thought you were going to squeeze it hard earlier and give it away. You didn’t, but now you gotta.”

Adrien took the cat, which looked very uncannily like Plagg, and squeezed it. In a squeaky voice it said, “Bow down to me, human.”

Adrien’s eyes widened and he squeezed it again, “Worship me.” Squeeze after squeeze, “Did I tell you to stop?” “Where is my food, peasant?” “You insult my presence.”

There was mostly silence in the room, punctuated with little titters after each squeeze, before there was a repeat and more silence.

Marinette began to get nervous at how uncannily silent Adrien was before suddenly he burst out laughing. It was laughter so boisterous and enthusiastic that tears streamed down his cheeks and his body shook violently. A moment later, he rolled onto the floor and clutched at his stomach.

“Oowww,” he whined, “It hurts!” He kept laughing, but still winced when he’d jerk. “Aah, oww.”

Marinette knelt down next to him, “Perfect, right?”

The unexpected part of this whole exchange, though, was when Tom silently laughed himself out of his chair onto the floor with a thud.

Nino and Alya turned to look at Tom with a puzzled expression, but the other three smirked knowingly.

“You all right, honey?” Sabine giggled as she helped him back up into his seat.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine,” he coughed though chuckles, “Whew, that was too funny.”

“Somehow I feel like I’m missing something,” Alya smirked.

“Me, too,” Nino chuckled, “But this is still funny.”

Besides a few awkward confusions, like that of the black cat plushy, the afternoon quickly turned to night. All six people huddled around the little kitchen bar and played dominoes.

“I win again!!” Nino exclaimed as he placed his last domino in place, “There’s no beating this domino champion, no way, no how.”

“You just got lucky,” Alya smirked.

“I don’t know, there’s some skill in lining them all up the most efficiently and seizing the right opportunities.”

“Yeah! Thanks, dude!”

“Well, I’m done playing this crazy game. My mom is probably going to think I floated down the Seine or something. I can’t believe it has been four hours already. I have to go! I promised I’d only stop by for a quick visit seeing as it is Christmas.”

“Yeah, same,” Nino sighed, “I sure did like beating you all at dominos, though. We should do this again some time.”

“Yeah, no,” Alya added, “Not if I can help it.”

They all said their good-byes and watched Alya and Nino head off into the cold, dark Paris night.

“Well, I’d call that a successful Christmas,” Tom sighed as he stretched his arms behind his head, “Anyone want to go for a walk to see the city lights?”

“I would love to dear,” Sabine nodded, “Children?”

Marinette glanced over at Adrien slyly, “Nah, I think I’ll stay here.”

“Suit yourself,” Sabine shrugged, “Adrien?”

He glanced away, trying not to meet Marinette’s gaze, “No thank you, madam, I’ll stay here with Marinette.”

Sabine smirked, “Sure. I’d like to point out her side table is stocked. I realize you are both overachievers, but there are Christmas gifts that you should wait to make.”

Tom groaned, “Come on, dear. That’s enough of that.”

“I’m just trying to help—“

“They get it. Let’s go. Have fun, kids! See you later. We’ll be about an hour so plan accordingly.”

As soon as the door latched, Marinette grabbed Adrien’s hand and ran up the stairs, dragging him behind her.

Joyeux Noel, indeed!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the delay, but I have had a busy go of the last few months and it doesn't appear as if it will be slowing any time soon. I did steal some time to work on a couple fics, though, so I hope you enjoy it all the same.


End file.
